Syracuse Football: 5 Freshmen that will make an impact in 2019
By Andrew Carey
Heading into 2019 here are the five names to keep an eye out for that will make the biggest impact next season for the Syracuse football squad.
Syracuse football had their best season in 17 years under Dino Babers in 2018. Led by seniors Eric Dungey, Jamal Custis, Koda Martin, Cody Conway, Dontae Strickland, Ravian Pierce, and Chris Slayton; Syracuse went on to beat West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl. All seven of those former Orange are now on active NFL rosters.
Although Syracuse still returns 15 of their starters from last season, so there is still the opportunity for promising young guns to earn playing time.
Dino Babers and staff put together another solid recruiting class in 2019, with 20 commits.
Syracuse hit a recruiting lull during the Doug Marrone and Scott Shafer era’s but Babers and his staff have proven that with some success on the field, they can put together a middle of the pack ACC recruiting class. As fans, that’s all we can ask for. You’ll never see Syracuse recruiting compete with Clemson, Ohio State, or Alabama in the top 10 nationally, but if they bring in solid classes, and develop the players to fit the coach’s schemes they will find success.
In the 2019 class, Syracuse pulled in five commits from the football hotbed of Florida, including two blue-chip targets in Mikel Jones and Cornelius Nunn. Syracuse also hit the state of North Carolina hard. Steve Stanard, defensive ends coach is responsible for recruiting the Carolina’s and his connections paid off in 2019. Cuse brought in another highly touted linebacker, Lee Kpogba and a highly skilled prep player, Drew Tuazma.
Those are just some of the areas that Syracuse targeted and tried to find their next batch of players to elevate the program.
It will be fun to see how the Syracuse staff is able to mold these players to fit their style and system on offense and defense. Some of the recruits look like they might be long-term projects and candidates to redshirt, while others look like they could come in and compete right away for playing time. Let’s take a look at who Syracuse fans can expect to see on the field this upcoming season.