Syracuse Football: Andre Cisco will contend for national Jim Thorpe Award

Neil Adler

Andre Cisco, Syracuse football (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

The pre-season accolades continue to pile up for Syracuse football junior safety Andre Cisco, who is on the watch list for the 2020 Jim Thorpe Award.

Should Syracuse football have the ability to suit up this fall amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, star junior safety Andre Cisco will undoubtedly end up as a significant contender for the title of the country’s top defensive back.

Heading into the 2020 campaign, the praise keeps on pouring in for the 6-foot, 206-pound Cisco, whose most recent one comes in the form of receiving inclusion on the pre-season watch list for the 2020 Jim Thorpe Award, an honor doled out annually “to the best defensive back in college football based on performance on the field, athletic ability and character,” according to the announcement revealing the contenders to date.

Per the press release from the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Jim Thorpe Association, the pre-season watch list for this 2020 recognition features 49 defensive backs who represent 10 conferences across the United States.

The Southeastern Conference, unsurprisingly, leads the way with seven players on the list, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference, the American Athletic Conference and the Pac-12 Conference with a half-dozen each.

Besides Cisco and Syracuse football, the other five ACC guys in the mix are Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley, Pittsburgh’s Paris Ford, Clemson’s Derion Kendrick, Florida State’s Hamsah Nasirildeen, and Virginia Tech’s Jermaine Waller.

The winner of the Jim Thorpe Award, by the way, is slated to get unveiled by ESPN on Dec. 10 of this year.

Many national pundits are anticipating an excellent 2020 stanza for Syracuse football junior safety Andre Cisco.

Cisco, the present Football Bowl Subdivision leader with 12 career interceptions, is also on the pre-season watch list for two other 2020 national defensive player of the year honors in the Bednarik Award and the Lott IMPACT Trophy.

Additionally, Cisco is landing a ton of placements on pre-season All-American first teams by various media outlets, and some analysts are forecasting him to get selected in the first or second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Cisco is also viewed as a top-10 player in the ACC prior to the upcoming term commencing.

Neil Adler

Since 2016, Neil has served as a writer with Inside The Loud House, while also taking on the role of editor in 2020. Neil, a graduate of Syracuse University in 2000, primarily covers 'Cuse basketball, football, recruiting, NIL and conference realignment issues. Neil has been an avid Syracuse sports enthusiast dating back to the 1980s. While with Loud House, Neil is regularly heard on the radio in Central New York, while also participating in numerous podcasts related to the 'Cuse. His exclusive reports are often picked up by other media outlets, too. When not writing about Syracuse sports, Neil also co-owns a marketing agency in the Washington, D.C., market. He loves playing hoops and buying basketball cards with his son, spending time with his parents, brother and nephews, and listening to Duran Duran.