Syracuse Football: Orange misses the top 5 for ultra-talented 4-star wide receiver

This spring, Syracuse football made the top 10 for 2023 four-star wide receiver Tyler Williams from Florida, which I thought was pretty cool.

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Williams, a rising senior at Lakeland Senior High School in Lakeland, Fla., at the time had a top 10 of the Orange, Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Southern California and USF.

With all of those heavyweights in the sport of college football making his top 10, I got the sense that the ‘Cuse was likely a huge long shot to prevail for Williams, who also plays basketball and is a top-250 national prospect within the 2023 cycle in football, according to the primary recruiting services.

Plus, not too long ago, Syracuse football received a verbal commitment from underrated 2023 wide receiver Bryce Cohoon. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Cohoon is out of Maize High School in Maize, Kan.

Syracuse football is no longer in contention for 2023 four-star WR Tyler Williams.

According to recent media reports from 247Sports and others, Williams has disclosed a top five of Georgia, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Clemson and Ole Miss. He plans to announce his college choice on September 27.

Per Andrew Ivins of 247Sports, Williams officially visited Georgia, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Clemson in June, and he has an official visit planned for the weekend of September 3 to Ole Miss.

It looks like Georgia, the defending national champions of the College Football Playoff, is receiving a lot of buzz from analysts in Williams’ recruitment on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com and the On3 Web site.

Throughout his recruiting process, the highly sought-after Williams has obtained more than 40 offers from a range of high-major programs. According to 247Sports, Syracuse football offered a scholarship to Williams in November of 2021.

Even when he included the Orange in his top 10 a few months ago, it was probably a bit unrealistic to think that the ‘Cuse would win out in the end. But, hey, at least Syracuse football made his top 10.

At present, the highest national ranking for Williams in the 2023 class comes from On3, which has him at No. 55 overall and No. 10 at his position.

When I penned this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rated Williams at No. 130 across the country, No. 22 at wide receiver and No. 29 in the talent-rich state of Florida.

The industry-generated On3 Consensus, meanwhile, placed Williams at No. 128 nationwide, No. 20 at wide receiver and No. 27 in Florida.

Best of luck, Tyler, as you have five excellent finalists from which to choose!