Is Terrelle Pryor a "slam dunk" for the Raiders?
When Terrelle Pryor decided to skip his (suspension-shortened) senior season at Ohio State, the natural assumption is that he would enter the NFL's supplemental draft.
On Thursday, Pryor rejected one of the possible NFL alternatives as he said (through his attorney) that he wasn't interested in playing for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, who had acquired his rights in the CFL.
Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune describes drafting Pryor in the supplemental draft as a "slam dunk," especially for Oakland, and he isn't worried about which position Pryor ultimately plays.
"If you are Al Davis and have a chance to put a once-in-a-generation athlete on the Raiders for the cost of a third-round pick or later, you do it," writes McDonald.
Pryor is expected to be a mid-round pick.
Any team that selects a player in the supplemental draft forfeits their pick in the same round the following year. Since the Raiders don't have a second- or fourth-round pick in 2012, they could use their third- or fifth-round pick to try to select Pryor (assuming they won't use their first-round pick).
If Pryor doesn't work out at quarterback (like many scouts expect), he's a big (6-6 and 240 pounds) and athletic target as a receiver.
"What a weapon he would be. You stand next to him and you can't believe what a physical specimen he is," [former Bears safety and Ohio State assistant coach Doug] Plank said. "He's got great hands, and he's deceptive fast. He just glides away from people -- even people in the secondary."
With no second- or fourth-round pick already, I'm not sure that the Raiders would want to give up their third-round pick in next year's draft as well. But to give up a fifth-round pick for a dynamic athlete that will likely be a converted receiver down the line, it makes sense to me.
Then again, the Raiders often do things that don't make sense to me.
