The Syracuse football quarterback depth chart for the upcoming season took an unfortunate hit not too long ago, but the Orange coaching staff has done a top-flight job in attempting to fill that void.
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, who was hands-down one of the premier quarterbacks across the country in the 2021 recruiting cycle, said via social media earlier this week that he plans to transfer from Florida to the ‘Cuse.
https://twitter.com/QBCarlosDelrio/status/1529243397487218689?cxt=HHwWgsCypZGx-7gqAAAA
I get that the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Rio-Wilson has yet to take a snap with the Orange, however, at least on paper, this young man appears to boast all kinds of talent and potential.
During the 2021 stanza for the Gators out of the Southeastern Conference, Rio-Wilson redshirted in his freshman campaign.
With the NCAA allowing all student-athletes to transfer once and retain immediate eligibility, I’m assuming that Rio-Wilson will have the ability to contend for minutes with Syracuse football this fall, and I also imagine that he has four years of eligibility remaining.
Syracuse football scored a massive commitment from four-star quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson.
According to 247Sports, Rio-Wilson entered the NCAA’s transfer portal on April 22 of this year. Last November, Florida hired Louisiana’s Billy Napier to replace Dan Mullen as the Gators’ head coach.
Rio-Wilson, who is from the Atlanta area, was rated as a four-star player in the 2021 class by virtually all of the main recruiting services. Prior to joining Florida, he suited up for Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Ga.
Multiple recruiting Web sites ranked Rio-Wilson as a top-10 to a top-20 pro-style quarterback within the 2021 cycle.
Nationally speaking, ESPN had him at No. 58 overall, with the industry-generated 247Sports Composite putting him at No. 146 around the country and the industry-generated On3 Consensus placing Rio-Wilson at No. 182 nationwide in 2021.
Throughout his recruiting process, Rio-Wilson has received at least 15 other scholarship offers, from college squads such as Michigan, LSU, Miami, Louisville, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Duke, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee and Arizona State.
According to his bio on the MaxPreps Web site, in the 2020-21 term for Cartersville High School, he threw for 1,374 passing yards and 12 passing touchdowns, with just four interceptions.
As we noted several weeks ago, media reports surfaced saying that Orange redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Lamson would be sidelined indefinitely following surgery for a knee injury.
With Lamson out, the quarterback room for Syracuse football now features Rio-Wilson, Garrett Shrader, who started the bulk of games for the ‘Cuse in 2021, Michigan transfer Dan Villari and JaCobian Morgan.
Given how woeful the Orange’s passing attack proved in the 2021 season, having depth at the quarterback position, and hopefully a compelling competition for the starting job and the No. 1 back-up spot, are positive developments as Syracuse football looks ahead to the 2022 campaign.