Spring practice is underway for Syracuse Orange football, meaning fans are one step closer to seeing the team back in action. While most of the discussion over the past few months centered on the transfer portal with who the program brought in as well as lost, another essential factor to look at with the roster is who is still around from 2025.
Bill Connelly of ESPN this week released a piece on how much returning production Syracuse and the rest of the FBS are set to bring from last year into the upcoming
season. In the rankings, Syracuse ranked inside the top-30 in overall returning production, coming in at the No. 27 spot with 62%.
This is actually one of the better marks in the ACC. Among all teams in the conference, only Virginia Tech (No. 4, 69%) ranks higher. Syracuse has the same overall returning production as SMU, along with non-ACC schools Tulsa, Eastern Michigan, Delaware and Tennessee.
Between offense and defense, the latter ranks far better. The defense is bringing back 67% of its production from 2025, a top-10 mark among all FBS schools at No. 9. The offense returns 56% of its production from last year, good for No. 63 overall.
For context, percentages for the offense were calculated on four factors (from most to least significant: returning OL snaps, returning receiving yards, returning passing yards and returning rushing yards). To get a number for the defense, percent of returning snaps was overwhelmingly the most important factor, followed by tackles and tackles for loss. (Ed. Note: In case you’re wondering, incoming transfers are included in the “returning” production numbers)
Starting with the defense, the highlights include having linebacker Antoine Deslauriers plus defensive backs Demetres Samuel Jr. and Chris Peal. As a freshman, Deslauriers was seen as one of the few bright spots on the 2025 Orange, while Samuel Jr. and Peal project to be a core part of what Syracuse’s coverage looks like going forward.
Besides that trio, Syracuse will also have a new leader guiding the unit in former Toledo defensive coordinator Vince Kehres, who certainly brings a strong reputation to the table.
The hope is under Kehres, what is already a decent floor for the Orange defense combined with several notable defensive transfer portal additions — like Georgia St. DL Jartavius Flounoy, Maryland DL Dillan Fontus and UNLV EDGE Tunmise Adelye — can truly be a calling card for the program in 2026.
Switching sides of the field, the offense is certainly more of an open question.
The return of QB Steve Angeli is a big part of the equation. Angeli notably shined to start his Syracuse career before a torn Achilles sidelined him for most of the 2025 season. After he went down, so did the rest of Syracuse’s offense.
At the quarterback spot, three QBs (Rickie Collins, Luke Carney and Jakhari Williams) departed via the portal. In their place, Syracuse brought in transfers Amari Odom, Malachi Nelson and Danny Lauter.
Outside Angeli, however, there was also turnover at some other notable positions.
Lead running back Yasin Willis, along with RBs Jaden Hart and Malachi James, transferred out. Syracuse is also down its top two receivers — Darrell Gill Jr. and Johntay Cook — going into 2026, both of whom also transferred to other schools. Tight end Dan Villari is now graduated. The offensive line is easily the biggest uncertainty heading into 2026.
In short, part of the story for Syracuse being better offensively is simply having Angeli under center. But compared to the defense, there will be a lot more reliance on transfer portal additions and newcomers rather than returning names to be part of an Orange offense that can hopefully be productive and consistent from start to finish.
As always with data like this, there’s a few factors to keep in mind.
First, as noted in Connelly’s piece, broadly speaking returning production is plummeting in a college football world dominated by the portal and roster changeover. Second and most importantly, this is just one factor to consider with evaluating the Syracuse football roster entering 2026.
Returning production can be a blessing and provides some foundation. At the same time, a successful team still needs to nail its portal additions and maximize the talent of players already on roster.
All this in mind, there’s certainly pieces to work with on both sides of the field as Syracuse looks to bounce back from a 3-9 campaign.
