Syracuse Football: Loss of star duo stings, but future secondary is stellar

Syracuse football junior defensive back Trill Williams has joined Andre Cisco in declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Coming into the 2020 campaign, a lot of folks hoped that Syracuse football juniors Andre Cisco and Trill Williams would put forth stellar performances in the Orange secondary, and then the expectation centered on both of them forgoing their remaining eligibility in Central New York and declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft.

What unfortunately has happened, though, is that both Cisco, a pre-season All-American candidate at safety, and Williams, an under-rated yet extremely talented defensive back, had their 2020 seasons cut short while dealing with injuries and will prepare for next year’s NFL Draft.

In mid-October, Cisco said that he would enter into the 2021 NFL Draft. He had suffered a lower-body injury when Cisco collided with a ‘Cuse teammate prior to the team’s contest on Sept. 26 versus Georgia Tech inside the Carrier Dome, according to media reports.

Now, on Wednesday night, Williams took to social media as well to say that he would forgo the final four games of the 2020 stanza at Syracuse football (1-6) and submit his name into the 2021 NFL Draft.

Mike Curtis of Syracuse.com reports that Williams “has been limited with a lower-body injury in recent weeks.” Given that the Orange is immensely struggling in the fall campaign, Williams’ decision is logical and totally understandable.

“We appreciate everything that Trill has done for this program during his time at Syracuse University,” head coach Dino Babers said in a statement on cuse.com. “We wish him nothing but the best as he pursues his dream of playing professional football.”

Syracuse football junior defensive back Trill Williams is done in the present term and, like Andre Cisco, will declare for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Williams, whose hometown is in Yonkers, N.Y., attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y., prior to coming to the Hill. Per cuse.com, he has suited up in 28 games over three seasons, while recording 93 tackles, four interceptions, three forced fumbles and 3.5 tackles for a loss.

It’s unquestionably disappointing that neither Williams nor Cisco got to finish out their junior stints. However, as Mike McAllister, the publisher of SyracuseOnSI, points out in a great article, Orange coaches have a plan moving forward in the squad’s secondary despite the losses of Cisco and Williams.

McAllister notes members of the team’s 2019 class like Neil Nunn, Aman Greenwood, Garrett Williams and Adrian Cole, as well as Rob Hanna, Ben LaBrosse, Ja’Had Carter and Chase Atkinson in the 2020 cycle.

Finally, the ‘Cuse has received commitments in its class of 2021 from Malcolm Folk and Duce Chestnut. McAllister writes that the Syracuse football coaching staff “has done a nice job bringing in the next wave of talented defensive backs,” and I absolutely agree.

Best of luck in the professional ranks, Andre and Trill!