QB Kyle McCord, 4-star transfer, 5-star prep recruit, highest-rated Syracuse football commit in long time

Quarterback Kyle McCord, the Ohio State transfer, committed to Syracuse football on Sunday, and he’s the Orange’s highest-rated pledge in many years.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound McCord, a junior with the Big Ten Conference’s Buckeyes, has one year of collegiate eligibility remaining. In the 2023 season, he completed nearly 66 percent of his passes for 3,170 yards, while tossing 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

McCord, coming out of the St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, was a consensus top-50 national prospect and a top-10 quarterback in the 2021 class, according to all of the primary recruiting services. He was rated either four stars or five stars in this cycle.

In national transfer rankings, when I wrote this column on Sunday night, McCord was in the top-40 overall or higher, depending on the recruiting Web site.

An article on Sunday from ESPN’s Pete Thamel stated, “McCord is the highest-ranked player -- No. 31 in the Class of 2021 rankings -- to commit to Syracuse since ESPN began recording recruiting rankings in 2006, according to ESPN Stats & Information.”

Syracuse football has its highest-rated commit in nearly two decades.

Here are the national rankings of McCord, both in the transfer portal these days as well as when he was in high school. They’re impressive, to say the least.

National Transfer Rankings (Current Cycle)

247Sports: Four stars, No. 39 overall, No. 10 at quarterback

Rivals.com: Four stars and No. 14 overall

On3 Industry Ranking: Four stars and No. 23 overall

High School Rankings (2021 Class)

247Sports: Four stars, No. 49 overall, No. 8 at QB, No. 3 in Pennsylvania

247Sports Composite: Five stars, No. 28 overall, No. 6 at QB, No. 2 in Pennsylvania

Rivals.com: Four stars, No. 35 overall, No. 4 at QB, No. 2 in Pennsylvania

ESPN: Four stars, No. 31 overall, No. 5 at QB, No. 3 in Pennsylvania

On3: Five stars, No. 19 overall, No. 4 at QB, No. 1 in Pennsylvania

On3 Industry Ranking: Five stars, No. 25 overall, No. 5 at QB, No. 2 in Pennsylvania

Naturally, these sorts of rankings are fun, and it’s highly encouraging that new Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown and his staff have picked up a pledge from such a highly rated prospect.

At the same time, once games are being played in the 2024 season, we can throw all of these national rankings out the window, because all that will matter at this point is how the Orange fares on the field.

In any event, McCord is a tremendous “get” for Brown & Co. The Ohio State transfer was one of roughly 20 prospects, including college transfer targets, high school verbal commits and high school recruits, who took official visits to the Hill this weekend.