Worst Roster Since When?

[Cusefan69]

Love the focus on portal rankings while simultaneously ignoring the HS rankings. At least be consistent.

We also got rid of the recruiting coaches who couldn’t develop guys. Will it work? Remains to be seen. But Fran is focusing on what he does - getting the players and having more coaches do what they do best - develop and coach. He overindexed in recruiting guys in his mold with his first staff. He has learned and pivoted. Now we will see the results in next 12-24 months.

I’d be very disappointed if we don’t win 6-8 games next year. There will be some surprises I think both positively and negatively with a young roster.

Biggest key to me is the OL continuing to develop. Three starters returning, need youth to perform.

Agree with the above but would add we need the 3 returning starters on the oline to perform significantly better on top of the young guys. Last season, Washington showed some good things but his endurance still needed work and he didn't have a year of strength training under his belt. I would expect him to up his game further. The rest of the oline didn't exactly impress. The season hinges on our new oline coach making a big impact and leveling up our entire oline or it's going to be a really tough year. To me while I try to be hopeful, it's hard to give the oline the benefit of the doubt after all these years. Everyone on the oline has to up their game.

 

[Archbold44]

Agree with the above but would add we need the 3 returning starters on the oline to perform significantly better on top of the young guys. Last season, Washington showed some good things but his endurance still needed work and he didn't have a year of strength training under his belt. I would expect him to up his game further. The rest of the oline didn't exactly impress. The season hinges on our new oline coach making a big impact and leveling up our entire oline or it's going to be a really tough year. To me while I try to be hopeful, it's hard to give the oline the benefit of the doubt after all these years. Everyone on the oline has to up their game.

OLine was not a huge issue with Angeli. With a decent QB, there was a bit more balance in the game. And the SMU game the OL created some nice holes that Willis just refused to run through in a few short yard situations to pick up the first down and keep the drive alive. We just needed some momentum and confidence. Also, remember that drive against Clemson where it was mostly running the ball effectively? That opened up the pass, etc. Once Angeli went down and the defenses realized they could stack against the run AND send pressure AND not have to worry too much about the passing game... it was lights out for the offense and the offensive line. We had no answer. But that is not 100% on the OL.

 

[Newhouser]

Also if anyone actually looks at the portal grades guys get, they'd realize very little thought is put into them outside the top guys. 5k guys get dropped in the portal right away and we think those are serious ratings? Even for some of our guys who left who I liked -- those ratings are a joke.

If you weren't a top 100-250 guy in the portal, your ranking means very little. So a lot of portal rankings have to do with volume.

Fran's been very clear that we're a developmental program. The '25 and '26 classes were our top in modern history. The 25's are already littered across the two deep. I expect a number of '26s to crack the two deep as well.

Just because you don't see guys you know or like doesn't mean they're bad.

Agree but to be fair - doesn't mean they are good either. We need to coach up who we have. That will determine where we go.

 

[upperdeck]

The oline will decide what our top can be.
The Center was hurt all year, then the backup as well
We shuffled the pieces around all year

We can be better with a QB that moves the ball faster and to the right spots more often. But still we need to be able to run in those key moments.

We will know pretty quickly if the new oline coach and the young kids are up to it by the Bye week.

 

[Fowler]

We just need to hold on to players until they are seniors. Indiana was the oldest team in college football I believe. We these classes are seniors that will tell in my opinion which is worth nothing lol.

 

[Cusefan69]

OLine was not a huge issue with Angeli. With a decent QB, there was a bit more balance in the game. And the SMU game the OL created some nice holes that Willis just refused to run through in a few short yard situations to pick up the first down and keep the drive alive. We just needed some momentum and confidence. Also, remember that drive against Clemson where it was mostly running the ball effectively? That opened up the pass, etc. Once Angeli went down and the defenses realized they could stack against the run AND send pressure AND not have to worry too much about the passing game... it was lights out for the offense and the offensive line. We had no answer. But that is not 100% on the OL.

Yes and no. I hear what you are saying but Angeli was actually constantly getting pressured but he was able to work through his reads pretty quickly. That said the oline gave up 5 sacks against UT, 3 against UConn, 1 against Colgate and another 5 to Clemson. That does not include hurries or number of times hit. Running Yasin had 91 yards against UT on over 20 carries. UCONN Syracuse threw the ball 55 times, so no much run game there. Clemson Yasin had 94 yards on 18 and Nixon had 46. So run game was pretty good there and would give the oline credit for opening some holes there. At most they slanted unfavorably inconsistent with some positive moments of physicality. Again I am not counting hits and hurries on Angeli.

 

[mathgeek444]

You can't win with this many underclassmen. Literally 2/3 of the roster is freshman/sophomores.

Where are our NFL prospects that are upperclassmen? Peal? The 2024 team was loaded with very experienced guys that were at least practice squad types.

Dino deserves more credit for finding some gems with absolutely zero resources. Fran looked good in 2024 because the university ponied up more resources for once and Fran got to build on top of a Dino roster. All the Fran fanboys think we're going to be some sort of Kentucky basketball winning with 19 year old kids when Indiana had 23 and 24 year old men.

 

[richmondcuse03]

You can't win with this many underclassmen. Literally 2/3 of the roster is freshman/sophomores.

Where are our NFL prospects that are upperclassmen? Peal? The 2024 team was loaded with very experienced guys that were at least practice squad types.

Dino deserves more credit for finding some gems with absolutely zero resources. Fran looked good in 2024 because the university ponied up more resources for once and Fran got to build on top of a Dino roster. All the Fran fanboys think we're going to be some sort of Kentucky basketball winning with 19 year old kids when Indiana had 23 and 24 year old men.

the dino guys would have been gone if dino stayed. and we had several key transfers in. you're kidding yourself with some of this. the portal spending in 2024 was a fraction of what it takes now to win in the portal. Our entire budget is up at least 4x since then.

 

[Archbold44]

Yes and no. I hear what you are saying but Angeli was actually constantly getting pressured but he was able to work through his reads pretty quickly. That said the oline gave up 5 sacks against UT, 3 against UConn, 1 against Colgate and another 5 to Clemson. That does not include hurries or number of times hit. Running Yasin had 91 yards against UT on over 20 carries. UCONN Syracuse threw the ball 55 times, so no much run game there. Clemson Yasin had 94 yards on 18 and Nixon had 46. So run game was pretty good there and would give the oline credit for opening some holes there. At most they slanted unfavorably inconsistent with some positive moments of physicality. Again I am not counting hits and hurries on Angeli.

It's also not the o-line's fault that Willis could not get into the end zone on two long runs where he cut wrong, we needed TDs, and we came away empty. Coupled with the SMU game, Willis had so many momentum destroying issues... plus, penalties and dropped passes. But he was quick to celebrate the big play.

 

[Cusefan69]

It's also not the o-line's fault that Willis could not get into the end zone on two long runs where he cut wrong, we needed TDs, and we came away empty. Coupled with the SMU game, Willis had so many momentum destroying issues... plus, penalties and dropped passes. But he was quick to celebrate the big play.

You seem overly harsh on Yasin. He played hurt a fair amount and again he ran pretty strong against UT and Clemson. In fairness to Yasin as well, once Angeli went down and Collins was found to be more of a 4th string player than 2nd string., every defense we played against focused on the run and dared Syracuse to throw it. When you stack the box and DCs do run blitz packages our oline and RBs are not going to move the ball. When the QB can't throw you tend to go on 8 game losing streaks.

 

[qdawgg]

I've learned that "always hopeful" means we're screwed.

It does have a “diamonds in the rough” feel to it. In fairness, Frans ability to find playmakers likely surpasses DB’s ability to recruit 30 WR’s all based on speed and not end up almost any decent WR’s. Along with any other position.

 

[Ttk.gman2]

Good lord, why is everyone calling me a schmuck? I was bored at work and trying to get a conversation going. Mea culpa on the ratings, it was 2025 when we finished last in the ACC. This year, as several of you noted, we’re closer to 40.

That said, my point still stands. Do we have any preseason All-ACC players? Maybe, if you really squint, Samuels or Peal. We’re a developmental program that just fired several coaches tied to player development and turned over most of the 2022–2024 classes. In the NIL era, what’s the track record of relying on largely anonymous 18- and 19-year-olds while lining up against older, better-recruited, better-paid rosters?

I don’t post much, but I’ve been on this board since the AOL days. After watching 20 years of mostly cellar-dwelling awfulness, it’s frustrating to think we finally had a glimmer of hope, only to watch the door get slammed shut by Indiana, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, and whatever other program happens to have a billionaire alum this cycle.

 

[RF2044]

Casually forgets to add Angeli is already throwing, will only be kept out of some drills in spring ball as precautionary and will be full go for summer camp

Casually forgets to add we probably had our best high school recruiting class ever with 2 stud receivers coming in

Casually forgets to add that some of the kids that transferred that were “bigger” names were asked to move on because of issues off the field. Some of them pretty big issues. We went 3-9 last year, was there really anyone on the team where it’s like damn we lost that guy we need him back so we can win 3 games again

Casually forgets to mention the coaching overhaul and how our new DC would run circles around Robinson

Literally my biggest concern is safety, and o-line. We have a legit coach at o-line so he will coach them up. We’ll have 3 returning starters on the o-line and satieties we actually have a legit DC now that will coach to the players strengths. We’ll be fine. We aren’t winning the championship but we sure as hell aren’t going 3-9 again. We’ll go somewhere between 5-7 and 8-4

Other than all that, THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ttk.gman2]

The thing that scares me is Fran talks about a championship but we don’t have half a roster. We need some studs that we don’t got. We might not win the mac

We have multiple studs?

 

[Ttk.gman2]

Tons of potential, but didn't make All-ACC honorable mention last year, which suggests coaches and media slot him as a middle-of-the-pack starter, maybe around 20th to 25th best. Could he move up to the top 5? I hope so!

He was only a true freshmen? What do you want?

 

[Ttk.gman2]

I’m not saying it’s totally bad. Just saying we are 3 guys away from being really good. Dt to pare with Perry, safety who can cover with Barron like skills, and wr that is number 1 clearly. All three guys would cost about 3-4 mil total and would change our team drastically. Now Fran is preying that we can coach all these guys up and I prey they can and we play out of our minds. Just not sure it’s gonna happen.

Hughes at safety also we brought in 2 really good players with production at DT ? Also Calvin Russell in my opinion will be Wr1 that’s why we brought him to Syracuse.

 

[qdawgg]

agree, there are lots of unknowns. I tend to think a lot of those are positive but it's impossible to really define the talent level of the team. There's a lot of upside. Will all of it materialize? Who knows.

I also dont think we lost much on O. But I'm not as high on Gill as others on this board are.

This exactly. I expect a better season but that’s not saying a lot given last year. But I do expect we are competitive. Some of the portals may pan out and be big time producers. The TE and WR I have high hopes for. The defensive adds I think will at least be smarter players that won’t leave players wide open and will know their assignments.

But things can easily go really bad next season. There’s no guarantee at QB, doesn’t matter that he’s throwing. I have hopes he returns and is the same or has improved with repetition. There’s nobody at this point in time that can say he will or won’t be back at a form/level we need.

The freshman class is fantastic. But again, they won’t be contributors next year other than hopefully 2-3.

Next years results could yield almost anything. It’s not being pessimistic to state that.

 

[Ttk.gman2]

This exactly. I expect a better season but that’s not saying a lot given last year. But I do expect we are competitive. Some of the portals may pan out and be big time producers. The TE and WR I have high hopes for. The defensive adds I think will at least be smarter players that won’t leave players wide open and will know their assignments.

But things can easily go really bad next season. There’s no guarantee at QB, doesn’t matter that he’s throwing. I have hopes he returns and is the same or has improved with repetition. There’s nobody at this point in time that can say he will or won’t be back at a form/level we need.

The freshman class is fantastic. But again, they won’t be contributors next year other than hopefully 2-3.

Next years results could yield almost anything. It’s not being pessimistic to state that.

How do you know the freshmen won’t contribute next year beyond just two or three players—what actually tells you that? This class is better than last year’s, and we had more than three freshmen make an impact then. JoJo White and Cooper could both play right away on the offensive line, while Alexander Haskell and Houston have clear paths to snaps on the defensive line. Calvin Russell is almost guaranteed early playing time, and Hughes legitimately has a chance to start at safety as a true freshman. Wilson and Rodgers could contribute early off the edge if they add weight, Chase is already technically sound enough to play situationally at corner, and Amare Gough is an explosive freshman out of Virginia who could absolutely make a name for himself. So let’s see if it really ends up being “only” two or three—I’ll come back to this.

 

[FrancoPizza]

We have multiple studs?

Yes, and they're everywhere. Just look at the wall behind you and whip out your studfinder.

 

[Archbold44]

You seem overly harsh on Yasin. He played hurt a fair amount and again he ran pretty strong against UT and Clemson. In fairness to Yasin as well, once Angeli went down and Collins was found to be more of a 4th string player than 2nd string., every defense we played against focused on the run and dared Syracuse to throw it. When you stack the box and DCs do run blitz packages our oline and RBs are not going to move the ball. When the QB can't throw you tend to go on 8 game losing streaks.

Not asking him to rush for 100 yards. I am asking him to run through the hole created by the OL to get 1 yard for the first down.

 

[qdawgg]

How do you know the freshmen won’t contribute next year beyond just two or three players—what actually tells you that? This class is better than last year’s, and we had more than three freshmen make an impact then. JoJo White and Cooper could both play right away on the offensive line, while Alexander Haskell and Houston have clear paths to snaps on the defensive line. Calvin Russell is almost guaranteed early playing time, and Hughes legitimately has a chance to start at safety as a true freshman. Wilson and Rodgers could contribute early off the edge if they add weight, Chase is already technically sound enough to play situationally at corner, and Amare Gough is an explosive freshman out of Virginia who could absolutely make a name for himself. So let’s see if it really ends up being “only” two or three—I’ll come back to this.

Because that’s historically true for most teams with mostly 3 star recruits. That’s what the data shows it’s not based on my “feelings”.

 

[mathgeek444]

Because that’s historically true for most teams with mostly 3 star recruits. That’s what the data shows it’s not based on my “feelings”.

This is why for a team on a budget like Syracuse, the bulk of the spending should be done in the portal, NOT on high school classes. I know the portal prices are higher but you cannot be spending as much as we are on 20+ players (all the freshmen save 2 or 3) that are non-contributors every year. If we completely ditched the 20+ non contributing freshmen that's at least 5-7 very good all conference G5 players. I'd rather have those guys as starters and 1-2 star recruits warming the bench for free instead of expensive high 3 star freshmen warming the bench.

Sure we could go 6-6 or even 7-5 if things pan out, but the current strategy we are using the upside is very limited.

I know we keep saying "yeah we lost almost the entire 2024 high school class but wait for the 2025 guys." At this time next year we will be saying "yeah we lost almost the entire 2025 high school class, but wait for the great 2026 guys to develop!" It doesn't appear as though we even have enough money to retain these great recruiting classes and we're using the excuse of "well Fran didn't want them here anyway." Fran says a LOT of things for marketing purposes.

 

[Archbold44]

This is why for a team on a budget like Syracuse, the bulk of the spending should be done in the portal, NOT on high school classes. I know the portal prices are higher but you cannot be spending as much as we are on 20+ players (all the freshmen save 2 or 3) that are non-contributors every year. If we completely ditched the 20+ non contributing freshmen that's at least 5-7 very good all conference G5 players. I'd rather have those guys as starters and 1-2 star recruits warming the bench for free instead of expensive high 3 star freshmen warming the bench.

Sure we could go 6-6 or even 7-5 if things pan out, but the current strategy we are using the upside is very limited.

I know we keep saying "yeah we lost almost the entire 2024 high school class but wait for the 2025 guys." At this time next year we will be saying "yeah we lost almost the entire 2025 high school class, but wait for the great 2026 guys to develop!" It doesn't appear as though we even have enough money to retain these great recruiting classes and we're using the excuse of "well Fran didn't want them here anyway." Fran says a LOT of things for marketing purposes.

I do kind of agree with you that it makes more sense to pay $1M for a proven commodity vs $1M for a recruit. But it also depends on the value. Getting a $3M/year recruit to play for $1.5M/year is likely better than paying $1.5M for a $750k portal player just to get/keep him.

 

[CuseMan4]

The thing that scares me is Fran talks about a championship but we don’t have half a roster. We need some studs that we don’t got. We might not win the mac

Angeli, Mack, Washington, Russell, Adeleye, Keyshawn Johnson, AD, Tremble, Peal, Samuels are all dudes I would say are studs. That doesn’t include guys that are gonna get better this off-season that are also going to end up breaking out this year.

Cole Weaver, Ahmad Miller, Flounoy, Fontus, Nasir Ward, both Kerr twins, Outten, Noah Meyers, D’appoloni, Joe Cruz, Kahlil Stewart, Rodgers and Wilson on the end. Amare Gough, Darien Williams, Rayshon Andrews, Nissi, Nyandoro, Hughes (if he’s healthy), Juju Johnson.
All these guys are set up to have good seasons and potential break out years. Not saying they all do. But I bet most of these guys come in and contribute in big ways this season. The coaching staff loves a lot of these guys. I expect the guys that I listed that are just coming into the program to make big impacts. And the guys already in the program that I listed, to take big steps forward. And there’s always a few guys every year that come out of nowhere and play good

 

[MamesJungro]

He was only a true freshmen? What do you want?

Obviously, I want him to be an All-ACC player, but to win games now, we need more current All-ACC players. I was pointing out that our arguably best defensive player graded out as a mid-tier linebacker, underscoring our gap in top-end talent.

The broader point of this thread is my genuine surprise that, in year three under Fran, the talent gap seems to be widening. Hopefully, I’m wrong, and there are six or seven NFL-guys players on campus who are ready to contribute, but I would love to know who everyone thinks they are