Believe it or not, the Syracuse football season has nearly reached its halfway point, and as the team sits at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in ACC play, it is officially time to get an update on the players who were gained and lost through the transfer portal in the offseason.
247 Sports’ preseason ranking had Syracuse as the 47th ranked transfer portal class in the FBS, highlighted by one four star recruit and 14 three star recruits. Unfortunately, coupled with those strong additions, they lost a lot of talent
as well.
Here is the breakdown by position of how the top transfers from the class are performing for their new respective programs:
Quarterback
Transfers In: Steve Angeli ← Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Rickie Collins ← LSU Tigers
The two transfer quarterbacks that joined the Orange were the two that battled throughout fall camp for the starting role. Once Angeli won the position and settled in, he looked extremely confident in the pocket and led the offense to its comeback against Uconn and convincing victories against Colgate and Clemson. His untimely injury has him out the remainder of the season, but there is a lot for Syracuse fans to look forward to with Angeli at quarterback in the coming years, as he was one of the nation’s leading passers through the early part of the season. While Rickie Collins had a rough outing last week against Duke, the fact that the Orange brought in another quarterback that they could insert into the starting role was significant. It will be Collins’ offense moving forward, and as head coach Fran Brown said, “It can only go up from here.”
Transfers Out: Carlos Del Rio-Wilson → Marshall Thundering Herd, Michael Johnson Jr. → Akron Zips, Braden Davis → High Point Panthers
Del Rio-Wilson is now the starter at Marshall and has been great in his last two games, throwing for 519 yards and seven touchdowns while only suffering 11 incompletions in Conference USA play. Johnson Jr. is the backup at Akron, and Davis has been in and out of the starting role at High Point, and only completed 52% of his passes last week in a 41-20 loss at Elon.
The Breakdown: Even with the Angeli injury, the tough game for Collins against Duke, and the recent strong play of Del Rio-Wilson, a quarterback has been a significant upgrade for Syracuse.
Wide Receiver
Transfers In: Johntay Cook ← Texas Longhorns, Tyshawn Russell ← South Carolina Gamecocks
Cook, the transfer from Texas, has 25 catches for 310 yards and a touchdown to his name. The downside with Cook has been that in the game against Duke he lost two fumbles. Russell has made less of an impact, but still has nine catches on the season and has been used in the kick return game.
Transfers Out: Trebor Peña → Penn State Nittany Lions
Peña was one of the top transfer wide receivers in the country when he left Syracuse to head to Penn State. The four star recruit has been good for the Nittany Lions as he has hauled in 15 catches for 182 yards and a touchdown.
The Breakdown: Cook has flown under the radar, but has statistically been better than Peña. Losing Peña was a huge loss, but Cook has stepped up in his place and Russell has been serviceable in the offense, so the wide receiver corps has stayed neutral for Syracuse.
Cornerback
Transfers In: Chris Peal ← Georgia Bulldogs
Peal had a career game against Uconn in week two, but has not been significantly involved in the defense since. However, the transfer from Georgia is someone that has a strong connection with Fran Brown and has tallied 22 total tackles on the season.
Transfers Out: Jayden Bellamy → UCF Golden Knights, Marcellus Barnes Jr. → SMU Mustangs
Bellamy has been in and out of the lineup at UCF with five tackles and an interception in four games for the Golden Knights. Barnes Jr. has also been an irregular part of the lineup for SMU. He has three tackles on the season for the Mustangs.
The Breakdown: Peal has been better than Bellamy and Barnes combined, even though he has regressed a bit statistically since his standout game against the Huskies, but his presence with the Orange has improved the cornerback position for Syracuse.
Linebacker
Transfers In: Gary Bryant III ← South Dakota Jackrabbits, Fran Brown Jr. ← St. Francis (PA) Red Flash
Outside of Devin Grant and Demetres Samuel, Jr., Gary Bryant III has been one of the top defensive standouts for the Orange this season. He has tallied 26 tackles over the course of the first five games and has been a clear leader on the defensive side of the ball. Coming from a FCS program, it is always interesting to see how the adjustment looks playing a level up, but Bryant has answered that question. Having the experienced Bryant at the linebacker position has also done wonders in helping the development of Antione Deslauries, who has been phenomenal for Syracuse as well. In other news, Fran Brown Jr. has not made nearly as much of an impact.
Transfers Out: Jayden Brown → Maine Bears, Kaiden Bailey → Eastern Michigan Eagles
Kaiden Bailey and Jayden Brown have seen limited action in their new roles away from Syracuse. Bailey has two tackles on the season so far and Brown has yet to play for the Bears.
The Breakdown: Kaiden Bailey and Jayden Brown have not been nearly as impactful in their new roles away from Syracuse. Because of that, the linebacker position has been a significant upgrade for Syracuse.
Defensive/Offensive Line (Main Additions/Departures)
Transfers In: TJ Ferguson ← Florida State Seminoles, Austin Collins ← Louisville Cardinals, David Reese ← California Golden Bears
Ferguson has been solid at left guard for the Orange thus far this season and Austin Collins has been a consistent starter as well. Being able to slot those two into the lineup is something that has made life easy for Fran Brown thus far.
Transfers Out: Maraad Watson → Texas Longhorns, Codine Hornsby → Tulsa Golden Hurricane, Enrique Cruz Jr. → Kansas Jayhawks, J’Onre Reed → USC Trojans
Watson has been great for Texas thus far with 10 tackles in four games, but so has Reese for Syracuse with 13 tackles in five games. Reed has been limited, but played the full game against Illinois last week and struggled in pass production. Enrique Cruz is thriving at Kansas this season as PFF grades him a 74.5 so far this season with an 88.1 pass blocking grade, which Syracuse could certainly use.
The Breakdown: There were a lot of concerns about the offensive line coming into the season. There have been both good and bad in assessing the Orange’s portal results. The Tennessee game was the bad, the Clemson game was the good. All in all, Syracuse has taken a step back in the offensive/defensive line additions and subtractions.
Special Teams
Transfers In: Tripp Woody-Iowa
Transfers Out: Brady Denaburg- Minnesota
The Breakdown: Tripp Woody has also stepped into the placekicking role for the Orange after transferring from Iowa, and has done a solid job to date going 6/7 in field goal attempts with a long of 49 yards on the season. The two field goals he made against Clemson really helped the Orange keep momentum and win that in the conference battle on the road. Denaburg is 5/7 on the year for Minnesota with both of his misses coming from beyond 50 yards.
The Wrap: All in all, Syracuse has done a great job in the transfer portal and their additions have made a real impact for the team thus far, helping the Orange to their 3-2 record on the season. While they are dealing with injuries, the talent we have seen displayed from the players they brought in has really helped the team overall this year.
What do you think the best transfer portal additions have been? Where does Syracuse need to look in the offseason in preparation for next year?
