ACC Transfer Portal Breakdown: Syracuse
As SMU football nears its first season competing in the ACC, On the Pony Express will break down the transfer classes of every team in the conference.
The series continues with Syracuse currently ranked No. 4 out of 17 teams in the ACC. The Orange have 27 players leaving and 17 coming in.
That gives Miami an Index Score of 32 in the On3’s Team Transfer Portal Index.
Syracuse Transfer Class Breakdown
First-year head coach Fran Brown wasted little time putting his recruiting skills to work through the portal for Syracuse.
The biggest get was former five-star Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord. The Orange also added former four-star prospects in cornerback Marcus Washington (Louisville), defensive lineman Isaiah Hastings (Alabama), EDGE Fadil Diggs (Texas A&M) and wide receiver Yazeed Haynes (Georgia). Washington started his career at Georgia under Brown.
Offensive lineman Joshua Miller and fellow receiver Jackson Meeks are two more pickups from Brown’s old job at Georgia. Linebacker James Heard (West Virginia), corner Darius Chestnut (LSU), corner Clarence Lewis (Notre Dame) and offensive tackle Savion Washington (Colorado) also come in from power programs.
Even though 10 more players transferred out than Syracuse is bringing in, it’s a quality over quantity approach. The average player rating of the incoming transfers is almost a full 10 points higher than those leaving. That includes the two four-star transfers McCord and Haynes.
Top Offensive Transfer: QB Kyle McCord
McCord led Ohio State to an 11-1 record this past season, his third in Columbus and first as the starter. But OSU brought in veteran Kansas State quarterback Will Howard another former five-star recruit in Julian Sayin from Alabama.
At Syracuse, McCord is the undisputed starter, something he wouldn’t have been at OSU. And in McCord, Syracuse gets a proven commodity at a position of need after graduating last year’s starter.
Syracuse is also setting McCord up for success by having other top transfers at the wide receiver position and an offensive lineman to help protect him.
Top Defensive Transfer: EDGE Fadil Diggs
Diggs was a standout over his four seasons at Texas A&M, especially the last three. He played in all 12 games as a redshirt freshman, started all eight in an injury-shortened 2022 season and started all 12 games this past season.
Diggs was a two-time team captain for the Aggies while racking up 76 tackles, 18.5 for loss and eight sacks to go with three fumbles forced, a blocked kick and two passes defended in 33 career games.
Key Losses
Linebacker Stefon Thompson is the most experienced loss for Syracuse. He played in 36 games with 21 starts over four seasons, but missed all of 2022 with a season-ending injury in Week 1.
Receiver Damian Alford was coming off a career-best, and team leading, season with 610 yards and three touchdowns to go over 1,200 career yards.
Linebacker Leon Lowery started all 12 regular season games and was fourth on the team with 7.5 tackles for loss, including 3.5 sacks. Kevon Darton was a walk-on turned starter in every game at nose tackle this past season and 24 of his 26 games over the last two years.
Terry Lockett started eight of his 11 games played on the defensive line this past season, cornerback Jeremiah Wilson played in 22 games with five starts in two seasons and Myles Farmer played in all 13 games as a backup safety.
Meanwhile receiver Isaiah Jones will try and find better luck elsewhere. He began each of the last two seasons as a starter, but both were cut short due to injuries.
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