Syracuse Football: After week 2, analyst deems Kyle McCord a Heisman front-runner

Two games into his senior season with Syracuse football, quarterback Kyle McCord is off to one heck of a fast start.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound McCord, a four-star transfer from Ohio State who was also a former five-star prep recruit coming out of the Philadelphia market, has looked mighty impressive so far in the young 2024 campaign, as the Orange has jumped out to a 2-0 record.

McCord, who hails from Mount Laurel, N.J., is garnering a lot of attention from national analysts and commentators for his play to date, as the 'Cuse signal-caller is among the leaders in various statistical categories at quarterback both within the Atlantic Coast Conference and around the country.

On Tuesday, analyst Robert Griffin III, who won the Heisman Trophy as a star quarterback at Baylor in 2011, noted in a post on his X page his five Heisman front-runners after week two. Checking in at No. 2 on Griffin's list is McCord, which is so cool.

To reiterate, Syracuse football has played just two games in 2024. The Orange has a bye coming up, and then the 'Cuse will next do battle against new ACC member Stanford in the evening on Friday, Sept. 20, inside the JMA Wireless Dome. Regardless, Syracuse football fans are undeniably excited about what McCord and the Orange offense have done at this juncture in the current term.

National pundits are showering Syracuse football senior quarterback Kyle McCord with praise.

This past Saturday afternoon on the Hill, the Orange defeated then-No. 23 Georgia Tech, 31-28. Per stats on cuse.com, McCord was 32-of-46 through the air with 381 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He had a QBR of 167.8.

In the team's pair of wins in 2024, collectively, McCord is 59-of-85 (roughly 70 percent) for 735 yards, with eight touchdowns and just one interception. At the time of this writing, in the ACC, McCord was No. 1 in total passing yards, passing yards per game, and touchdowns through the air.

Nationally speaking, he is No. 3 in total passing yards, No. 3 in passing yards per game, and tied for No. 1 in passing touchdowns. As it pertains to passing efficiency, McCord is currently No. 5 in the ACC and No. 25 nationwide.

Following his excellent output versus the Yellow Jackets, McCord deservingly picked up a slew of awards and honors. He was named an ACC player of the week.

Per SU Athletics, McCord was also named for the second-straight week to the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8, the East-West Shrine Bowl's "Monday Morning Quarterback," and a Manning Award star of the week.

After week two, CBS Sports has McCord at No. 8 overall in its quarterback power rankings. Multiple analysts and national writers also characterized McCord as having one of the top performances in week two, both at the quarterback position and among college transfers from this past off-season.

We've got a long way to go in the 2024 season, so it's virtually impossible to gauge whether McCord will have a legitimate shot at winning the Heisman or even being named a finalist. He'll have to continue putting up big-time numbers, and Syracuse football will have to triumph in a lot of games.

That being said, it's proven super fun to watch what McCord has done thus far in the current campaign.