Can Calvin Pryor achieve Pro Bowl year?

As the New York Jets prepare for the upcoming regular season, safety Calvin Pryor is building on the success of last year and should achieve a Pro Bowl appearance in 2016.

Safety Calvin Pryor was coming in last season with a lot of questions if he will be productive in his second year with the New York Jets. In his rookie season under former head coach Rex Ryan, they had him playing out of position at free safety and he struggled.

Related Story: NY Jets 2015 Spotlight: Calvin Pryor

In his second season, the Jets moved him back to strong safety and Pryor was back to his old self in being a very productive player. He recorded much better numbers as he had two interceptions, six pass deflections, 19 assisting tackles and 69 combined tackles.

He was laying down some hard hits that forced many teams to force a fumble. It also made the opposing wide receivers wanting to redirect their routes away from Pryor’s vicinity.

He stepped up big time last year when the Jets went on a winning streak in the need to make an appearance in the NFL Playoffs. When they played in Week 15 against the Dallas Cowboys and were struggling to score points, Pryor stepped up and delivered.

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He caught an interception pass that was a huge turning point late in the game.

He also was a big help the following week against their division rival New England Patriots which put them in a position to “win and get in” for a playoff berth on the road against the Buffalo Bills.

If he is able to improve his coverage skills and develop his game like Earl Thomas of the Seattle Seahawks did, the sky is the limit for Pryor.

If he is able to stay healthy this upcoming season and become the elite player that the Jets think he can be, then he should have no problem in achieving a Pro Bowl kind of season. He will need to step up as a leader because there are many new faces on the defensive side of the football.

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Even though there are a few players not around anymore, this defense for the Jets will have the chance to be a top five unit by continuing the momentum they build in 2015. It will be interesting to see if Pryor will be more of a dynamic player and do more on the field. If he can cause more interceptions and fumbles to put up some serious results, expect to see a breakout year for Pryor.