Terrelle Pryor Is Actually a Really, Really Good Wide Receiver

With Yom Kippur upon us of the Jewish religion, it's time that we atone for our sins from this past year.

I apologize for not wanting to see Terrelle Pryor become a starting wide receiver with the Cleveland Browns because of the presences of Corey Coleman and Josh Gordon.

This means I must also apologize for rooting and encouraging others to root for and believe in Gordon. Unfortunately, his path has again led him away from the NFL.

My main concern with Pryor was that the third wide receiver in this Browns' offense would hold little value for fantasy football. Just last year, only 79 wide receivers who ranked third in receiver snaps played in any week scored at least 13 PPR points in a game.

Between Gordon being in rehab and Coleman out with a hand injury, though, Pryor -- for now -- is the top receiver on the Browns depth chart. Furthermore, he's not at risk for being the third receiver anymore.

Through Week 5, Pryor has seen 46 targets resulting in 24 receptions for 338 yards and 1 touchdown. His play has prompted the Browns to deem him untouchable.

With the Browns closing their ears to trade offers for Pryor, it's time to see if they're making the correct decision.

Pryor Judgment

Up until this year, Pryor has predominately played quarterback throughout his football career. After the Cincinnati Bengals released him last year, Pryor decided that switching positions was in his best interests.

The Browns signed him after that, and he recorded just one reception for 42 yards last year.

Up until now, there has been very little evidence to judge Pryor's receiving talent on. Even now, a five-game sample isn't much, but it gives us an idea of what Pryor can possibly become.

Digging beyond the traditional statistics, we can use our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric to see just how effective Pryor has been as a wide receiver this year.

Currently, 59 receivers have at least 25 targets. Among this group, Pryor ranks 14th in Reception NEP (points added on all catches), 29th in Reception NEP per target (points added on a per-target basis), and 27th in Reception Success Rate (percentage of positive plays made).

All of his marks are above league average for this year based on wide receivers seeing at least five targets per game.

Furthermore, 48 wide receivers saw at least 80 targets last year -- the league average for those players was a 0.71 Reception NEP per target and an 85.51% Reception Success Rate.

Questionable Help

Pryor's also succeeding with a revolving door at quarterback for the Browns -- he has now caught passes this season from Robert Griffin III, Josh McCown, Cody Kessler, and Charlie Whitehurst.

Pryor himself has even lined up at quarterback this year. (And I anxiously await the day he throws a pass to himself.)

Take a look at his quarterbacks versus the rest of the league to start the year.

Based on our metrics, the Browns quarterbacks have combined to be underwhelming and overall below league average this season. In other words, Pryor has been an above-average wideout so far this season despite the fact that his quarterbacks have played below the norm.

That's why he's now considered irreplaceable.