Syracuse Football: Taking a detailed look at the Orange’s 2021 class
By Neil Adler
With three-star offensive lineman Kalan Ellis committing to Syracuse football the other day, we analyze the Orange’s 2021 recruiting cycle to date.
Three-star offensive lineman Kalan Ellis committed to Syracuse football a few days ago, and that gives the Orange 15 commitments at this juncture in its 2021 class.
Nationally in this recruiting cycle, Rivals.com has the ‘Cuse at No. 53 across the country, followed by No. 54 via 247Sports, with that rating service also slotting the Orange at No. 13 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
All of the Syracuse football 2021 commitments so far are three stars according to 247Sports. Over at Rivals.com, 10 of the Orange’s pledges are three stars, and the remaining five commits are two stars.
Currently, the Syracuse football 2021 class is relatively balanced, with eight guys on offense and seven players on the defensive side.
On offense, the ‘Cuse has one quarterback, three offensive linemen, one running back, one wide receiver and a pair of tight ends. Switching over to the defense, and the Orange boasts four defensive ends/defensive tackles, two linebackers, and one defensive back.
In writing about Syracuse football recruiting efforts of late, I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations with ‘Cuse fans about the state of the program.
Given that the team has struggled a bunch over the past 15 years, expectations are certainly lower than they proved back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
However, many Orange fanatics remain disappointed that Syracuse football recruiting, as a collective whole, continues to fall in the 50s on a national scale. Some of these ‘Cuse fans think that Syracuse football should have classes that are in the top 25 to top 35.
For me, that seems a bit unrealistic, at least for now, although I do believe that head coach Dino Babers and his assistants, starting with the 2021 recruiting cycle, have the Orange trending in a positive direction.
Even while the novel coronavirus pandemic has made recruiting way more limited from a logistical perspective, Syracuse football in recent weeks has landed recruits who hail from a variety of states. The squad is also in hot pursuit of several four-star prospects in the 2021 class.
A lot of these developments are encouraging, and if the Orange can maintain a foothold on getting strong pledges from regions closer to home, like the mid-Atlantic, the New York metropolitan area, and New England, then the ‘Cuse recruiting future will stay bright for Babers & Co.