The Seahawks gave up a conditional seventh-round pick for a crack at quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who nearly three years ago was the last draft pick ever made by the late Al Davis.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll likes what he has seen from Pryor so far.
“He’s been exactly on the mark,” Carroll told reporters on Tuesday. “He’s studied like crazy, he’s taking great pride in being able to transition to a new team, his communication is on it, his attitude is good, his physical stuff is there, he’s a big thrower. We know he can run, but we haven’t seen him run very much because you don’t get that until live situations, but he’s done an excellent job so far. He’s well along and he’s right in the middle of it already. That’s tremendous to be that far along already.”
It’s unclear whether Pryor is far enough along to topple Tarvaris Jackson as the backup quarterback in Seattle. Carroll’s belief in universal competition means, in theory, that every position on the depth chart is up for grabs.
Regardless of how it plays out, having Pryor around could help the defense improve its practice routine, given Pryor’s size in comparison to starter Russell Wilson.
“I just think he’s a great model for me, as far as practice,” safety Earl Thomas told reporters. “He’s a tall guy, I can get a good read on him. When Russell is back there, you can’t really see him because he’s so short and I can’t get good breaks on the ball. But when Terrelle’s back there, I can get great breaks on the ball. He’s a great guy -- he’s throwing on target but I can get a great read on him.”
That’s the first time anyone has explained in a very tangible and simple way one of the real benefits of being a short quarterback. And one of the drawbacks of being tall at the position. It could be that the Seahawks will have both the 5-11 Wilson and the 6-4 Pryor on the practice field as the team tries to move to 2-0 since 2013 in the Super Bowl.