The pre-season accolades keep on pouring in for Syracuse football junior safety Andre Cisco.
Some lofty expectations are surfacing for Syracuse football junior safety Andre Cisco.
He’s a pre-season All-American several times over. Chatter about Cisco getting selected in the first or second round of the 2021 NFL Draft is apparent.
How the Orange will fare in the 2020 campaign is hazy at best, assuming a term is played this fall at all amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
But Cisco, the current Football Bowl Subdivision leader with 12 career interceptions, is primed for a stellar upcoming stanza within the ‘Cuse 3-3-5 defensive scheme under new defensive coordinator Tony White.
Syracuse possesses a relatively soft schedule and certainly could go bowling, however, the Orange isn’t perceived as a premier squad in the Atlantic Coast Conference heading into the 2020 season.
Syracuse football junior safety Andre Cisco is the ACC’s No. 9 player, per a recent rating.
College Football News has released its pre-season top-30 ACC players and, unsurprisingly, Cisco is the sole ‘Cuse guy to receive inclusion on this list.
That being said, the 6-foot, 206-pound Cisco, a member of the 2018 Associated Press All-American third team as a true freshman, falls within the top 10 of the College Football News rankings, as he checks in at No. 9.
The top 10, in order, is Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Tigers running back Travis Etienne, Miami defensive end Gregory Rousseau, Florida State defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, Pittsburgh defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman, Miami quarterback D’Eriq King, Seminoles safety Hamsah Nasirildeen, North Carolina linebacker Chazz Surratt, Cisco, and Clemson defensive tackle Tyler Davis.
The Tigers, undeniably, remain the elite group in the ACC and should contend for a national title yet again. However, the conference as a whole should prove better and deeper in 2020 than it has in recent years.
Teams such as Virginia, Miami, UNC and Pittsburgh are all expected to perform at a solid clip come this fall. Syracuse could attain a half-dozen conquests and secure a bowl invite, and Cisco will do all he can to lead the way. The key is for other Orange players to step up and do their part as well.