Our D next year is extremely young

[HRE Otto IV]

First year with a new DC and D system will have growing pains. Additionally with so many young players there will be growing pains. The good news is that if these young kids are legit, then this could be a good D in 2027.

By Academic Class
13 Freshmen
13 Sophomores
4 Juniors
5 4 Seniors
5 5th year

So 26 out of 40 39 are underclassmen (66.67%)

DL (12 out of 15 are underclassmen)
5 Freshmen
7 Sophomores
0 Juniors
2 Seniors
1 5th year

LB (4 out of 9 8 are underclassmen)
2 Freshmen
2 Sophomores
2 Juniors
2 1 Seniors
1 5th year

DB (10 out of 16 are underclassmen)
6 Freshmen
4 Sophomores
2 Juniors
1 Senior
3 5th year

 

[OrangeTarheel]

2/3rds of every group is sophomore or older, that doesn’t scream extremely young to me. Without names it’s tough to tell which are the *more* experienced position groups but this 2/3rds ratio of freshman to upperclassmen seems right to me. Some of those freshmen won’t cut it and we will need a bigger class behind them to replenish.

Not to mention how old our portal additions will be (they won’t be freshmen). And Toosii is going to be a … 25 yr old freshman? Where does he get slotted?

 

[CapitalO]

First year with a new DC and D system will have growing pains. Additionally with so many young players there will be growing pains. The good news is that if these young kids are legit, then this could be a good D in 2027.

By Academic Class
13 Freshmen
13 Sophomores
4 Juniors
5 Seniors
5 5th year

So 26 out of 40 are underclassmen (65%)

DL (12 out of 15 are underclassmen)
5 Freshmen
7 Sophomores
0 Juniors
2 Seniors
1 5th year

LB (4 out of 9 are underclassmen)
2 Freshmen
2 Sophomores
2 Juniors
2 Seniors
1 5th year

DB (10 out of 16 are underclassmen)
6 Freshmen
4 Sophomores
2 Juniors
1 Senior
3 5th year

We will bring in some solid veterans through the portal.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

2/3rds of every group is sophomore or older, that doesn’t scream extremely young to me. Without names it’s tough to tell which are the *more* experienced position groups but this 2/3rds ratio of freshman to upperclassmen seems right to me. Some of those freshmen won’t cut it and we will need a bigger class behind them to replenish.

Not to mention how old our portal additions will be (they won’t be freshmen). And Toosii is going to be a … 25 yr old freshman? Where does he get slotted?

Sophomore is still young and most of these Sophomores haven't even stepped on the field yet.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

We will bring in some solid veterans through the portal.

I think people are putting too much faith into the portal. We got Diggs and Peal who both came over to join their former coaches. Maybe that happens this year too with Toledo players.

For pure portal players on D were able to find quality players in...

Year 1: Lewis and Grant

Year 2: Nobody

 

[CbusCuse]

Yeah we are pretty young but the DL is where we are really young with just 3 guys being older than Sophomores. I'm sure Fran will bring in some portal guys to balance things out a bit. With a new defense, I wonder if that will even the playing field a bit for younger guys to get on the field more as everyone is learning the new defense. I really do hope we can get maybe 2 guys from Toledo that know the defense and can help others learn as well.

 

[cusefan88]

Yeah we are pretty young but the DL is where we are really young with just 3 guys being older than Sophomores. I'm sure Fran will bring in some portal guys to balance things out a bit. With a new defense, I wonder if that will even the playing field a bit for younger guys to get on the field more as everyone is learning the new defense. I really do hope we can get maybe 2 guys from Toledo that know the defense and can help others learn as well.

I'm guessing/hoping they get the DE Davis and the LB D'Appollonia to come in.

 

[CbusCuse]

I think people are putting too much faith into the portal. We got Diggs and Peal who both came over to join their former coaches. Maybe that happens this year too with Toledo players.

For pure portal players on D were able to find quality players in...

Year 1: Lewis and Grant

Year 2: Nobody

Do to the fact that we are getting a new defensive coordinator and installing a new system, that also has a history of success we can point to, will help us bring players in. That along with the opportunities for playing time available, i'm hoping should make us a somewhat attractive landing spot for some players. But I guess we shall see.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Do to the fact that we are getting a new defensive coordinator and installing a new system, that also has a history of success we can point to. will help us in bringing players in. That along with the opportunity available, i'm hoping should make us a somewhat attractive landing spot for some players. But I guess we shall see.

My main concern is the DL. In today's game everyone is rotating guys in and out. So if a kid isn't playing at a bigger program, it is likely that they are not that good. The kids at smaller programs looking to move up will be in high demand, which puts us at a disadvantage.

We needed LB help last year and the best we could land was an FCS kid who IMO was overmatched at this level.

I do think we can find a S or two, so that will help.

I think the potential of Toledo kids brings our best shot at upgrading.

 

[CapitalO]

I think people are putting too much faith into the portal. We got Diggs and Peal who both came over to join their former coaches. Maybe that happens this year too with Toledo players.

For pure portal players on D were able to find quality players in...

Year 1: Lewis and Grant

Year 2: Nobody

Good point that tells us our GM. and coaching staff whiffed badly.

 

[CbusCuse]

My main concern is the DL. In today's game everyone is rotating guys in and out. So if a kid isn't playing at a bigger program, it is likely that they are not that good. The kids at smaller programs looking to move up will be in high demand, which puts us at a disadvantage.

We needed LB help last year and the best we could land was an FCS kid who IMO was overmatched at this level.

I do think we can find a S or two, so that will help.

I think the potential of Toledo kids brings our best shot at upgrading.

DL is my main concern as well. Need LOTS of help for than unit via offseason acquisitions . Not that they performed all that well, but we had a lot of upperclassmen on the DL this past season. Hopefully a lot of the freshman that didn't play or didn't play that much have solid talent and just didn't see the field much because of all of the senior depth ahead of them. I don't know if that is the case or not, but I'm hoping it is.

It had to be very hard to play motivated defense every play in 2025 when it must have felt like a fruitless effort. They pretty much knew the offense was going to do zero to help out each drive. The mental aspect of that and the fact that they were on the field so much was a bad combination.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

The O is pretty young too. I hope that this isn't a new trend given the portal. Having a upperclass led team gives us the best shot at sneaking into the playoffs.

By Academic Class (assuming Nixon is back)
12 Freshmen
18 Sophomores
5 Juniors
8 Seniors
3 5th year
1 6th year

So 30 out of 47 are underclassmen (63.8%)


QB (2 out of 4 are underclassmen)
1 Freshman
1 Sophomore
0 Juniors
2 Seniors
0 5th year

RB (4 out of 4/5 are underclassmen)
1 Freshman
3 Sophomores
0 Juniors
0 Seniors
0 5th Year
1 6th year?

WR (10 out of 15 are underclassmen)
5 Freshmen
5 Sophomores
1 Junior
3 Seniors
1 5th year

TE (3 out of 5 are underclassmen)
1 Freshman
2 Sophomores
1 Junior
1 Senior
0 5th year

OL (11 out of 18 are underclassmen)
4 Freshman
7 Sophomores
3 Juniors
2 Seniors
2 5th year


As a team 59 out of 92 are underclassmen (64%). Hopefully we add 13 more portal players who are upperclassmen to even it out.

 

[IthacaMatt]

First year with a new DC and D system will have growing pains. Additionally with so many young players there will be growing pains. The good news is that if these young kids are legit, then this could be a good D in 2027.

By Academic Class
13 Freshmen
13 Sophomores
4 Juniors
5 4 Seniors
5 5th year

So 26 out of 40 39 are underclassmen (66.67%)

DL (12 out of 15 are underclassmen)
5 Freshmen
7 Sophomores
0 Juniors
2 Seniors
1 5th year

LB (4 out of 9 8 are underclassmen)
2 Freshmen
2 Sophomores
2 Juniors
2 1 Seniors
1 5th year

DB (10 out of 16 are underclassmen)
6 Freshmen
4 Sophomores
2 Juniors
1 Senior
3 5th year

The numbers remaining for the junior class are truly alarming.
This is the third year for Fran's first class.
That should have been the foundation of next year's team.

 

[richmondcuse03]

The numbers remaining for the junior class are truly alarming.
This is the third year for Fran's first class.
That should have been the foundation of next year's team.

It wasn’t a real first class for him. He had a few weeks to piece things together. He kept some Dino guys and threw in who he could.

 

[Maisel123!]

DL is my main concern as well. Need LOTS of help for than unit via offseason acquisitions . Not that they performed all that well, but we had a lot of upperclassmen on the DL this past season. Hopefully a lot of the freshman that didn't play or didn't play that much have solid talent and just didn't see the field much because of all of the senior depth ahead of them. I don't know if that is the case or not, but I'm hoping it is.

It had to be very hard to play motivated defense every play in 2025 when it must have felt like a fruitless effort. They pretty much knew the offense was going to do zero to help out each drive. The mental aspect of that and the fact that they were on the field so much was a bad combination.

I agree. Nothing demoralizes a defense more than continuous three-and-outs. None of the games after Clemson were even competitive; that's on the offense.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

The numbers remaining for the junior class are truly alarming.
This is the third year for Fran's first class.
That should have been the foundation of next year's team.

Coaching change years always have small classes. His first real class will be next year’s Sophs.

 

[IthacaMatt]

It wasn’t a real first class for him. He had a few weeks to piece things together. He kept some Dino guys and threw in who he could.

We've lost all the best guys from that first class.

Recruiting Roundup: A running list of Fran Brown's Class of 2024 recruits for SU football

If you bring in the man considered to be the best recruiter in the nation as your next head coach...well, your recruiting classes are going to improve. Syracuse

cnycentral.com

 

[OburgOrange]

We've lost all the best guys from that first class.

Recruiting Roundup: A running list of Fran Brown's Class of 2024 recruits for SU football

If you bring in the man considered to be the best recruiter in the nation as your next head coach...well, your recruiting classes are going to improve. Syracuse

cnycentral.com

Concerning

 

[Niastri]

Since this thread started, with some interesting analysis, we picked up a bunch of transfers.

In no particular order, we now have added to the defense:

Flounoy: Sophomore Defensive Tackle
Eugene: RJr Defensive Back
K Johnson: Senior Edge
D'Appolonia: Jr LB
Fontus: Senior Defensive Tackle

It feels like we picked up two rotation DT which were really critical, an Edge who could be a difference maker, an athletic LB and solid DB depth. (did I miss anybody?)

Does this small defensive transfer class improve the defense enough? Are we going to rely entirely on the new DC being better than the old DC?

At the very least, by adding two seniors and two juniors to the defense, I think we greatly increased our experience.

 

[PAcuse]

We've lost all the best guys from that first class.

Recruiting Roundup: A running list of Fran Brown's Class of 2024 recruits for SU football

If you bring in the man considered to be the best recruiter in the nation as your next head coach...well, your recruiting classes are going to improve. Syracuse

cnycentral.com

Not surprising
Some are Dino guys
LOTS of coaching changes
He had basically no time and thre together what he could
Most of those guys where asked to move or where not getting playing time
2025 and forward will be the true test on howhe has done

 

[PAcuse]

Since this thread started, with some interesting analysis, we picked up a bunch of transfers.

In no particular order, we now have added to the defense:

Flounoy: Sophomore Defensive Tackle
Eugene: RJr Defensive Back
K Johnson: Senior Edge
D'Appolonia: Jr LB
Fontus: Senior Defensive Tackle

It feels like we picked up two rotation DT which were really critical, an Edge who could be a difference maker, an athletic LB and solid DB depth. (did I miss anybody?)

Does this small defensive transfer class improve the defense enough? Are we going to rely entirely on the new DC being better than the old DC?

At the very least, by adding two seniors and two juniors to the defense, I think we greatly increased our experience.

Our defense took a HUGE leap with our DC hire, the players will be enough

 

[richmondcuse03]

Our defense took a HUGE leap with our DC hire, the players will be enough

Vince is very impressive. And he wasn’t a frugal hire that’s for sure. We traded recruiting connections for an experienced coach. Fran is the sizzle and Vince is the technician. It’s a really good pairing.

 

[SU in Hershey]

While “experience matters,” isn’t some of that negated by the general lack of experience specifically with our new DC? With the exception of players that followed him, of course. Experience (age) helps a bit as far as physical, and even emotional development, too, but this is variable from player to player, in my opinion.

 

[Niastri]

While “experience matters,” isn’t some of that negated by the general lack of experience specifically with our new DC? With the exception of players that followed him, of course. Experience (age) helps a bit as far as physical, and even emotional development, too, but this is variable from player to player, in my opinion.

I don't know about that. For example, the experience Fontus gained by playing 36 games in the Big Ten in his career surely will help him be prepared to help the Syracuse defense this year, regardless of experience in the current defensive system.

 

[CbusCuse]

Since this thread started, with some interesting analysis, we picked up a bunch of transfers.

In no particular order, we now have added to the defense:

Flounoy: Sophomore Defensive Tackle
Eugene: RJr Defensive Back
K Johnson: Senior Edge
D'Appolonia: Jr LB
Fontus: Senior Defensive Tackle

It feels like we picked up two rotation DT which were really critical, an Edge who could be a difference maker, an athletic LB and solid DB depth. (did I miss anybody?)

Does this small defensive transfer class improve the defense enough? Are we going to rely entirely on the new DC being better than the old DC?

At the very least, by adding two seniors and two juniors to the defense, I think we greatly increased our experience.

You missed these guys as well:

Ward - CB - Should be very valuable back-up - transfer from WKU.
Adeleye - DE/DL - large DE who should be solid - Transfer from UNLV
Snowden - S - has the measurables but not the experience yet as he was hurt last year - Transferred from Wisconsin to Toledo in 2025.