2026 O-Line

[cayugacuse]

O-Line has to get fixed or no qb will survive and be able to move the ball.

1) How did Angeli have time to get the ball downfield before he got injured?

2) Did we lose some guys to injuries that derailed the O-line?

3) Was it coaching or lack of talent?

Love to hear some thoughts on our incoming recruits, the portal, and player development.

 

[Ttk.gman2]

O-Line has to get fixed or no qb will survive and be able to move the ball.

1) How did Angeli have time to get the ball downfield before he got injured?

2) Did we lose some guys to injuries that derailed the O-line?

3) Was it coaching or lack of talent?

Love to hear some thoughts on our incoming recruits, the portal, and player development.

I think it was a combination of coaching and a lack of talent. I’m excited to see how Cooper develops and whether he can earn early playing time, similar to BIG Byron Washington. I also expect some reinforcements to arrive through the transfer portal. And Jojo White is very intriguing — I could see him getting on the field early as well.

 

[javadoc]

O-Line has to get fixed or no qb will survive and be able to move the ball.

1) How did Angeli have time to get the ball downfield before he got injured?

2) Did we lose some guys to injuries that derailed the O-line?

3) Was it coaching or lack of talent?

Love to hear some thoughts on our incoming recruits, the portal, and player development.

We don't appear to be hitting the portal hard for OL. maybe Fran thinks we have enough talent on the team already and by next year, with new and better coaching, we'll be good.

 

[JKinUtah]

We don't appear to be hitting the portal hard for OL. maybe Fran thinks we have enough talent on the team already and by next year, with new and better coaching, we'll be good.

How do we even know when the portal hasn't opened yet?

 

[Blanko97]

How do we even know when the portal hasn't opened yet?

Same question!

 

[javadoc]

How do we even know when the portal hasn't opened yet?

Social media post from one of our recruiting staff that said explicitly we are looking for DL and S and to send film.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Social media post from one of our recruiting staff that said explicitly we are looking for DL and S and to send film.

You mean the DEFENSIVE COACH at SU who's looking for defensive players?

Dre Kates - Football Coach - Syracuse University Athletics

Andre Kates joined the Syracuse football program in 2025 as a quality control coach. Kates has spent his previous coaching career at the high school level, s...

cuse.com

 

[GoSU96]

O-Line has to get fixed or no qb will survive and be able to move the ball.

1) How did Angeli have time to get the ball downfield before he got injured?

2) Did we lose some guys to injuries that derailed the O-line?

3) Was it coaching or lack of talent?

Love to hear some thoughts on our incoming recruits, the portal, and player development.

A lot of injuries through the year. Pass pro wasn’t bad to start the year and the run game looked much better vs Clemson.

They were clearly not good enough to run the ball vs a heavy box.

 

[upperdeck]

By the end of the yr teams just said, screw it, just send bodies and they wont get picked up.

So much confusion it was hard to even tell who messed up the blocks quite often

 

[GoSU96]

Hawn, Mack, Washington, Cruz, Pringle would be my guess as the 1s going into spring. Can Cruz play center?

Miller, Bertrand, Stewart, Shepard, Mann as 2s.

I think Rice, Shevchanko, and Brown-Miller will be portaling out.

 

[RF2044]

Hawn, Mack, Washington, Cruz, Pringle would be my guess as the 1s going into spring. Can Cruz play center?

Miller, Bertrand, Stewart, Shepard, Mann as 2s.

I think Rice, Shevchanko, and Brown-Miller will be portaling out.

Good question about Cruz at Center. Looked ok that one game. Maybe that's where he lands next year.

Otherwise, Stewart? A transfer?

Afraid that Pringle is too slow for RT.

Does Hawn start at LT or RT? Does Mack shift across the field to RT?

I assume we'll be hunting for a starting OG if Cruz shifts to center, or a portal Center if Cruz stays at guard.

Maybe an OT if Hawn isn't ready.

I actually don't think it will take much to "fix" the OL, maybe just a transfer or two. We have some young talent.

I think Rice will never actualize his potential. That situation at UNC must have really messed him up.

 

[Chip]

By the end of the yr teams just said, screw it, just send bodies and they wont get picked up.

So much confusion it was hard to even tell who messed up the blocks quite often

This was overly evident in the BC game. They had a gameplan that said we won't throw the ball downfield, and they were right.

 

[cayugacuse]

We can't get an ol coach soon enough to install a blocking scheme that the young guys can start learning. Center may be our weakest link up front.

 

[CuseMan4]

Only sharpied in starters on the O-line next year are Mack, Washington and Cruz.

Hawn, Stewart and Mann are good. Don’t want to lose them in the portal. Would like to keep Pringle but he’s gotta ahead some weight and get quicker and faster. Miller I wanna keep for depth purposes and he’s versatile.

Anyone else in the portal is not a big loss and I’m fine with

 

[soocher4]

Hawn was going to play a bunch this year but his high ankle sprain just wouldn’t go away from when he suffered it in camp. His ankle was really bad from the photos I saw.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Hawn may be our starting C.

 

[JRHEETER]

If we keep the same talent, you would see a much improved OL with any other coach basically besides Dale Williams.

Dude was running a clown show.

Most if not all of our OL would have transferred if he stayed here

 

[wfschrec]

If we keep the same talent, you would see a much improved OL with any other coach basically besides Dale Williams.

Dude was running a clown show.

Most if not all of our OL would have transferred if he stayed here

Between Williams and White no wonder things fell apart.

 

[Niastri]

We don't appear to be hitting the portal hard for OL. maybe Fran thinks we have enough talent on the team already and by next year, with new and better coaching, we'll be good.

I'd like to hear more about this.

The 2025 offense line class was huge, both in physical size and in number of recruits.

Stewart, Mann, Harvey, Shepherd, Hawn, Scatliffe, and of course Washington are all NFL size and are now one year in the program. They will have from now until the season starts to work with a former NFL offensive line coach. As redshirt freshman, they should have a chance to compete in the depth chart.

As has been pointed out, the coaching staff didn't see any need to go out and upgrade in the transfer portal. But... Is that because they didn't have a coach they trusted to evaluate, or did they have that much confidence?

 

[javadoc]

I'd like to hear more about this.

The 2025 offense line class was huge, both in physical size and in number of recruits.

Stewart, Mann, Harvey, Shepherd, Hawn, Scatliffe, and of course Washington are all NFL size and are now one year in the program. They will have from now until the season starts to work with a former NFL offensive line coach. As redshirt freshman, they should have a chance to compete in the depth chart.

As has been pointed out, the coaching staff didn't see any need to go out and upgrade in the transfer portal. But... Is that because they didn't have a coach they trusted to evaluate, or did they have that much confidence?

In that interview from last week Fran said the biggest thing he learned was that they needed to have another QB ready. That's a glib simplification but it stands to reason that the general topic of roster quality and having players who can actually play is top of his attention. It would shock me if he ignored a deep analysis of the OL on roster because he didn't think he had someone competent to judge. I think he got feedback from whomever he could, including our new coach if possible, and they are all comfortable with developing what we have.

IMO of course.

 

[Niastri]

In that interview from last week Fran said the biggest thing he learned was that they needed to have another QB ready. That's a glib simplification but it stands to reason that the general topic of roster quality and having players who can actually play is top of his attention. It would shock me if he ignored a deep analysis of the OL on roster because he didn't think he had someone competent to judge. I think he got feedback from whomever he could, including our new coach if possible, and they are all comfortable with developing what we have.

IMO of course.

Yeah, my last sentence was kind of trolling. Even if Fran and Nixon didn't trust their current offensive line coach, they have lots of long time football coaches and analysts who can make the evaluation, even if you wouldn't want them in the nitty gritty of trying to teach these guys high level offensive line techniques. I suspect they are really happy with enough of the young players recruited the last two years, and decided not to recruit over them.

Having 3 experienced guys expected to be starters makes relying on a bunch of redshirt freshman OL a little easier, but it still is a surprise that we only brought in a single OL transfer and he is expected at best to be depth or possibly "compete for a starting role."

 

[CbusCuse]

We had 3 starters graduate (Ferguson @ G, Spoon @ T, and Collins @ C) and 1 transfer out in Josh Miller who was mostly depth at multiple positions. I love hearing that the staff is happy with how many iof the younger OL players have looked. But having only Oluwafunto Akinshilo from UCLA as the only transfer, who has never been a starter, is surprising to me. I will say that i saw one article in August of last year that projected him as a starting guard, so that is nice to hear even though he wasn't one.

I really wish they would have brought in one more starting caliber type of Lineman. And really I would have prefered someone who had at least the versatility to play either OT or C. Depth wise, this requires multiple players to make big jumps and also not have any injuries before the season even starts. Even if somehow we don't get any major injury's before the season begins and several guys make a big jump, I don't feel like we will have quite enough talented depth. I mean there is a lot of young guys we are hoping can take the next step. And there is no second portal to supplement incase of injury. It all just seems risky to me.

But having a better OL coach certainly could be a big positive factor as well, certainly with assignment football and technique. Physically, we have the size, I just worry we don't have all of the athleticism needed at some spots. As fans, its hard to gauge the development behind the starters as we ony go by what we have seen on the field in games. We don't see the young back-ups in practice. Hopefuly they have all been looking really promising.

Having Angeli making fast, correct reads and getting the ball out quickly should help the unit as well.

​

 

[cusefan88]

Might as well have some pre-spring prediction fun: starters

LT Mack
LG Cruz
C Stewart
RG Washington
RT Pringle (though Hawn seems to always come up in threads).

 

[Ttk.gman2]

Might as well have some pre-spring prediction fun: starters

LT Mack
LG Cruz
C Stewart
RG Washington
RT Pringle (though Hawn seems to always come up in threads).

Where do you think Jojo white and Cooper will fit on the depth chart? As true freshmen

 

[RF2044]

Might as well have some pre-spring prediction fun: starters

LT Mack
LG Cruz
C Stewart
RG Washington
RT Pringle (though Hawn seems to always come up in threads).

I think Hawn has a pretty good chance, but not sure where he projects -- LT, G, or even C [I think Tomcat may have suggested he could land there].

Pringle looked WAY too slow when he saw the field at the end of last year -- hope that improves.