Syracuse Football: Positional grades heading into 2017 season

That video wasn’t placed there by accident. Antwan Cordy’s return is huge for this Orange secondary. He’ll be plugged in at free safety, while likely at strong we’ll see an Evan Foster or a Jordan Martin.

There’s 18 members of the secondary represented on the Cuse roster. I make no bones about it, the Orange defense was overall atrocious last year. They couldn’t buy a stop on a consistent basis. The secondary was often torched and a lot of that had to do with injuries. But to be honest, it wasn’t that great before the injuries.

A few new wrinkles really interest me. Devin Butler going from one of the top programs in the country (Notre Dame) to Syracuse was a huge get for the Orange. He’ll bring some much needed veteran savvy to this group.

While the unit is balanced out by some vibrant young guys including Ifeatu Melifonwu. Etta-Tawo exits and the Orange didn’t just have to replace his production but of course his name value. All kidding aside, Melifonwu will bring some size to the position at 6’3 and 195 pounds that we haven’t seen.