Syracuse Football: Positional grades heading into 2017 season

Now I’ve debated with a few folks about this, but here’s my reasoning. I can’t rationalize giving the WR group an A when they lost Amba Etta-Tawo. Especially when you consider that he had the single greatest receiving season in SU history. While that may sound prisoner of the moment, the stats speak for themselves.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, the Orange return an experienced receiving core. Steve Ishmael (senior) is hoping to realize his full potential in his final year of eligibility. His best season came in 2015-16, as evidenced by the highlights above which included a career high seven touchdowns.

He was supposed to be the guy last year and for whatever reason, it never materialized. Add another senior to the mix in Ervin Philips. Philips is going to break the all-time receptions mark at Syracuse this season, if you can believe that. Heck if Ishmael has the season he’s hoping for, he could probably break it too.

We’ll expand this conversation in a longer post next week to fully dive into all these names. But here’s a few to look out for:

• Jamal Custis, Redshirt-Junior, (6’5, 227 pounds)
  • He’s a height, weight, speed guy. Has looked really good in camp and could end up being a starter on the outside.
• Nykeim Johnson, Freshman, (5’8, 163 pounds)
  • Very Desean Jackson-ish. Has an explosive first step as both a returner and a wide receiver.
• Russell Thompson-Bishop, Freshman, (6’1, 200 pounds)
  • A thicker frame, more of a possession type of receiver. Definitely has the potential to work his way into the wide receiver rotation this year.