Syracuse Football: Ranking Cameron Ward and other quarterbacks 'Cuse plays in 2024

While Syracuse football may have, on paper, a relatively manageable schedule in 2024, the Orange are still set to face some talented quarterbacks throughout the course of the upcoming season.

Let's look at who Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown and defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson have to plan for this fall and rank them. This includes some talented signal-callers in the non-conference schedule for the Orange, and in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Ranking the quarterbacks who Syracuse football will face in the 2024 season.

#12 Joe Pesansky, Holy Cross
Holy Cross is going under a change after Bob Chesney (once a Syracuse coaching target) departed for James Madison. Matthew Sluka, his Walter Payton Award (FCS Heisman) finalist quarterback from the past few seasons, also left and is set to receive an FBS starting job. This leaves Joe Pesansky to take the reigns for the Crusaders. Pesansky will be a senior and made two starts and seven appearances in 2023, going 32 for 55 with five touchdowns, two interceptions, and 499 yards.

#11 Parker Navarro, Ohio
Fifth-year senior Parker Navarro is set to start for the Bobcats after a reserve role in the previous years, the first two coming at UCF. Navarro started off as the third-string a season ago, but he's a running threat and will improve with an offseason of starting reps. His only start was in the Myrtle Beach Bowl a season ago, giving the Bobcats an efficient outing as a dual threat. Navarro ran for 71 yards, passing for 120 yards on 68.8% completion with a touchdown. He could pose troubles with his legs in week one as Syracuse adjusts to their new 4-2-5 defense.

#10 Nick Evers, UConn
UConn has been middling on the football field in recent years and the problems start at the quarterback position. Quarterbacks have regularly thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. Coach Jim Mora is looking to change that with a transfer, adding Nick Evers from Wisconsin. He was originally recruited by Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma as a four-star prospect and has only thrown one pass in two years. We've seen OU transfers have success at other schools (Tanner Mordecai, Spencer Rattler), but I'm not sure if that will translate to Evers. I'll give him a slight edge over Navarro due to his much higher ceiling.

#9 Nate Yarnell?, Pittsburgh
The battle for Pitt's starting QB is still up in the air between Nate Yarnell and Alabama transfer Eli Holstein, but Yarnell is the current favorite to start week one. However, whether he has the job by the time Syracuse plays Pitt in week nine is another question. Yarnell is entering his fourth year with the Pitt program and has three starts to his name. Two came at the conclusion of the 2023 season, throwing for a total of 472 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception while completing 67.1% of his passes and rushing for a score.

#8 Matthew Sluka, UNLV
The man who started over Joe Pesansky at Holy Cross is a very talented quarterback. I'd have him just as high even if he didn't transfer. Matthew Sluka is coming off four years where he was named a Walter Payton Award (FCS Heisman) finalist with over 30 starts to his name and solid performances versus FBS competition. In his career, Sluka has 5,916 yards and 59 passing touchdowns (fifth in Holy Cross history) with 3,583 rushing yards and 38 rushing touchdowns (second in Holy Cross history). Watch out for him.

#7 Ashton Daniels, Stanford
After starting 10 games for a rebuilding Stanford team a year ago, Ashton Daniels is set to win the job again. The junior showed flashes last season, with 435 total yards and four touchdowns against Colorado and 448 yards with three touchdowns against Pac-12 champions Washington. Stanford coach Troy Taylor has a great offensive mind and should elevate Daniels further if some more pieces get put in place. Additionally, look out for former Syracuse football QB Justin Lamson. He transferred to Stanford prior to 2023 and led the Cardinal in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns.

#6 Thomas Castellanos, Boston College
Another dual-threat on the Syracuse schedule is Thomas Castellanos. He's the first of three projected starters that the Orange have already played and plays an infuriating style of ball if you're a defensive coordinator. Thomas Castellanos runs all around the field, he had 1,113 yards last year and 13 touchdowns while also passing for 2,323 yards and 15 touchdowns, albeit with 14 interceptions and completing 57.2% of his passes. Castellanos' season included a come-from-behind win in the Dome where he threw for 165 yards, ran for 87 more, and scored two touchdowns, one being the dagger with just 2:23 to play.

#5 Chandler Rogers, California
Sixth-year Cal QB Chandler Rogers is at his fifth school and should be good once more. The former North Texas, Louisiana-Monroe, Blinn College (JuCo), and Southern Miss quarterback put up fantastic numbers a season ago, throwing for 3,382 yards and 29 touchdowns while running for 180 yards and four more scores. His North Texas Coach, Eric Morris, is from the Mike Leach coaching tree and his offense should share some similarities with that of first-year Cal OC Mike Bloesch, although they won't throw nearly as much with Jaydn Ott in the same backfield as Rogers or run as many plays. Rogers is a sleeper on a sleeper team in 2024.

#4 Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech
Kyron Drones is a problem at quarterback. You could make an argument for him being ranked third or second and I can understand it. After starting slow, Drones really picked his game up as Virginia Tech improved and made a big turnaround. This included a win a 38-10 win over Syracuse in 2023 where Drones was in control and didn't have to do much, only throwing for 194 yards, a touchdown, and rushing for 56 more yards. In total, he passed for 2,085 yards, 17 touchdowns, and three interceptions with 818 rushing yards and five touchdowns. I'm confident those numbers will rise even more.

#3 Haynes King, Georgia Tech
The former four-star prospect has some inconsistency issues but is one of the best when he's on his A-game. Last season, Haynes King threw for 2,842 yards and 27 touchdowns, adding 737 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. But also 16 interceptions. King had masterclasses like 377 total yards and four touchdowns while completing 76.7% of his passes, and duds such as 129 yards, four interceptions, and 41.9% against Clemson. Against Syracuse, King had modest passing numbers, completing 16 of 20 passes for 138 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown. Let's hope we get the bad Haynes King against Syracuse football this year, but I wouldn't count on it.

#2 Grayson McCall, NC State
There aren't many quarterbacks who have been as consistently good as Grayson McCall. And of those, few stayed as long as McCall did at Coastal Carolina. Either way, now the three-time All-Sun Belt First Team player will show his talents on a wide stage for a Wolfpack team that badly needs him. Their offense, led by star WR KC Concepcion, should only help McCall put up numbers and give the Wolfpack wins. While he did face injuries and regress last year, finishing with career lows with 67.4% completion, 1,919 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, a high in six interceptions, and negligible rushing stats, I think McCall will bounce back in a big way.

#1 Cameron Ward, Miami
Seen by many as a top-10 quarterback nationally, there's no question that Cameron Ward is the best quarterback on the Syracuse schedule. He had an efficient 3,736 yards a season ago with 25 touchdowns to seven interceptions, plus 144 yards and eight touchdowns rushing. Now with a much better roster in Miami, Ward won't be asked to do as much and he should thrive in a Miami offense with Xavier Restrepo to throw to. The 6'2" 223-pound Ward will be playing on Sundays soon and he was close to putting his name in the draft this year.