A quick take on Syracuse’s 2014 recruiting class on LOI day:
WHAT HAPPENED: Syracuse made a final push in the last week and ended up signing 25 new players to their 2014 recruiting class. Here is the complete list:
- QB Alin Edouard
- QB A.J. Long
- WR Corey Cooper
- WR Jamal Custis
- WR Adly Enoicy
- WR Steve Ishmael
- WR KJ Williams
- RB Ervin Philips
- OL Aaron Roberts
- OL Denzel Ward
- DL Jalen Harvey
- DL Kayton Samuels
- DL Wayne Williams
- LB Parris Bennett
- LB Zaire Franklin
- LB Colton Moskal
- LB Jonathan Thomas
- DB Antwan Cordy
- DB Lamar Dawson
- DB Treevon Prater
- DB Juwan Dowels
- DB/RB Naesean Howard
- DB Cordell Hudson
- DB Rodney Williams
» Related: Scout.com’s Mike McAllister breaks down the lead up to SU’s signing day
ANALYSIS:
- Syracuse had two final battles to fight on NLI day, and ended up winning both. The first came early in the morning, with 6-foot-2, 300-pound defensive tackle Kayton Samuels committing to Syracuse. He had previously been committed to Georgia State and was also considering Ball State. The Arabia Mountain High School (Georgia) product was rated a two-star prospect by Scout.
- The second was even bigger (both metaphorically and literally) with Denzel Ward pledging to SU at 11 a.m. in an internet broadcast. The 6-foot-8, 307-pound offensive tackle from Chicago selected Syracuse over South Florida and Vanderbilt. Ward had previously been committed to Purdue and had offers from Florida, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio State, among others. Ward had been rated a 3-star prospect from Scout and went to high school with SU tight end Kendall Moore.
- Syracuse has extended its footprint far beyond the northeast area. Of the 25 commitments, just seven of them came from the northeast with 12 coming from Florida and Illinois, two areas that head coach Scott Shafer and offensive coordinator George McDonald are most familiar with.
- There is plenty of balance in this class, with 14 defensive recruits and 11 offensive recruits spread across the various positions. The new class includes two quarterbacks, two running backs (although Naesean Howard may flip to the defense), three wide receivers, two tight ends, two offensive linemen, four defensive linemen, four linebackers, and six defensive backs.
- Syracuse ended up near or in the top 40 in all of the major recruiting services. Scout had SU at 51, Rivals at 48th and 24/7 Sports at 48. In the Scout rankings, the Orange are ahead of Georgia Tech (54), Boston College (60), Wake Forest (65) and Duke (66) in the ACC. Scout also had Syracuse with 16 three-star recruits with an overall average of 2.72.
- The crown gem of this class was receiver KJ Williams from Liberty High School (Pennsylvania). He was the lone four-star recruit for Syracuse, and is the No. 50 rated receiver in the country according to Scout. Syracuse identified a need at wide receiver, and loaded up, with four other receivers joining Williams.
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