Syracuse Football: Final NFL Draft analysis, analytical breakdown of 2019 SU prospects

I don’t think there’s been a more criticized prospect coming out of Syracuse in a very long time. It’s hard to believe considering all the success that Dungey has had with the Orange (via Cuse.com):

• Played in 39 games with 38 starts from 2015-2018.
• As a passer was 786-of-1,279 (.615) for 9,340 yards with 58 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.
• As a runner, racked up 1,993 yards and 35 touchdowns on 543 carries (3.7 avg.).
• Finished his career as one of five ACC quarterbacks all-time with 11,000+ yards of total offense and 90+ touchdowns responsible for, joining Philip Rivers (NC State), Lamar Jackson (Louisville), Tajh Boyd (Clemson) and Deshaun Watson (Clemson).

Despite all of that success, Eric Dungey wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, nor was he invited to any of the college all-star games or senior bowl. In the eyes of the NFL, he has been completely overlooked.

So instead he used all that additional time to prepare himself for the Syracuse football Pro Day where he dominated.

Speaking to Dungey at the Pro Day, he was “pissed off” that he was ignored but he’s going to use that as motivation.

The criticisms of Eric’s game from experts are on his accuracy and his durability, both legitimate sticking points:

• Dungey didn’t start and finish a season until he was a senior, prior to that he had endured a variety of injuries that forced him to miss games in each of the prior three seasons. In total Dungey missed 10 games from 2015-17 from injuries or other circumstances.
• He never had a season in which he completed north of 65 percent of his passes and his best season hovered around 64 percent which appears to be an outlier when you look at the other three years of his career which are closer to 60 percent.

To his credit, Dungey worked behind the scenes after his Orange career to reinvent his footwork and his throwing mechanics. Eric at his Pro Day said after that training was complete he realized that he had been throwing the ball WRONG his entire collegiate career.

So think about that for a second, all of those accolades we mentioned above happened with Dungey doing things the WRONG way, just imagine how much bigger his numbers could’ve been if he knew everything he does now.

If a Syracuse football player is drafted it would be the second straight year that occurred (Zaire Franklin was the 235th overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round). The honorable mentions include Dontae Strickland and tight end Ravian Pierce who aren’t expected to be taken during the draft.