Top five Syracuse football players this season to date

Halfway through the 2020 season and Syracuse football is 1-5. But these five players have had their own and made the Orange fanbase proud.

Syracuse football has had a rougher start to the season than the Orange hoped for. But there have been a lot of players who have shined through the dark moments. These five ‘Cuse standouts have been some of the top players in the conference through six games.

5. Trill Williams

Trill Williams is the type of cornerback every team wants. He’s a hard hitter who gives effort and makes plays.

He has one interception on the season which he took back to the house for a 90-yard score. Williams is also second on the Orange in pass deflections with four.

He didn’t play in the Clemson game, which may have resulted in a change in rankings. But regardless, Williams comes in at fifth at the midway point.

4. Taj Harris

Like Trill, Taj was also held out of the Clemson game, but because of an expletive hand signal caught on camera during the Liberty loss.

But up to that point, Harris has been nothing short of dominant. 26 receptions for 434 yards and four touchdowns are all near the top of the ACC statistical leaderboard. One could even make the case for Harris to catch some eyes from the NFL, as he’s putting up those numbers without any consistency at quarterback.

Harris will have six more games to prove his worth this season and all against quality opponents where a big game can catch the attention at the NFL level.

3. Mikel Jones

Sophomore Mikel Jones has been the blessing in disguise Syracuse football needed this season.

Through six games, Jones leads the ‘Cuse with 44 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries.

His abilities to perform at such a high level in both pass and run coverage are incredible. He’s also just a sophomore, so this breakout season is just getting Jones started.

The latter half of the season will be fun to see if Jones can continue his hot start or fade into a Jeremy Lin type existence. My money’s on a continued good play because his football maturity this season has really been that good.

2. Garrett Williams

Heading into the Clemson game, Garrett Williams led the COUNTRY in a pretty important statistic. His 30 passes defended without a touchdown given up was tops in the nation.

Against the Tigers, Williams didn’t hold back, making big play after big play at corner. In fact, he led Syracuse football with eight tackles and gave Trevor Lawrence the first pick-six of his career.

This may be enough to include Williams on some weekly awards lists. It also may be time for NFL scouts to give him a look. For how good Andre Cisco was during his freshman campaign, Williams isn’t too far behind. The one interception may not blow people away, but the tale of the tape is different – this kid’s for real.

1. Sean Tucker

The Orange may have found its starting running back for the next three+ years. Tucker came on to the scene after injuries and opt-outs forced him up the depth chart. And he’s been driving forward ever since.

Tucker’s averaging 5.1 rushing yards per attempt, good for t-78th in all of college football, which is pretty impressive as a freshman thrown into the fire.

He hasn’t been a big part of the receiving game – just two catches for 27 yards. But Tucker’s ground game has been fabulous and it’ll just get better. If there’s one thing Syracuse fans have to be excited about, it’s how good Tucker will be over the next few years.