My grandfather started the Get To Know Your Orange Man series with a dollar and a dream. And now? It's finally done. Lucas here is the final player on the 2011 Syracuse Orange roster to be profiled in this series. You can relive the magic here anytime you want. 

In the meantime, wanted to give a big shout-out to Dan, Matt and Nick for cranking out tons of profiles of SU football players, superstars and walk-ons alike. Grape job!

The final player on your Orange-Man Orientation, #53 - Lucas "Luke" Albrecht.

Position: Defensive tackle

Year: Freshman

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 255

Hometown: Hudson Falls, NY

High School: Hudson Falls

2010 Stats:  Not sure about his stats but Albrecht was named to the NYSSWA All-State Team Class B and other all-star teams as an OL.

2011 Projections: Albrecht won't see the field during a game this season but he'll be a valuable member of the team in practice.

How'd He Get Here?: Albrecht was also a big-time wrestler so he put out feelers in both sports. His father, Dwight, had sent Syracuse some game tape of Luke during his senior year. That caught the attention of D-Line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh.

Albrecht received an academic scholarship to Syracuse and enrolled to study bioengineering. He also received an invite from Jimmy B to try out for the team. He did...and he made it.

Scouts/Rivals Said:. Nothing.

Money Quote: "I'm still getting the technique down," he said. "I want to get faster, get everything down so I don't have to think about what I'm doing."

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We're moseying through unknown, walk-on territory.  So, when I can't find real information, I'm just going to write some stuff that may or may not be true. 

Make sure that you catch up on all the profiles you may have missed by clicking this fancy blue text. Most of those aren't full of lies (or potential lies). 

PLAYER: Travon Burke

NUMBER: 32

POSITION: Running Back

YEAR: Freshman

HEIGHT: 6'1"

WEIGHT: 253

HOMETOWN: Syracuse, NY

HIGH SCHOOL: Corcoran (looks like he attended Milford Prep as well)

2010 STATS: Killed a man in San Antonio over a burrito dispute.  Afterwards, he asked the bartender for two fingers of whiskey; when he was given only one finger of whiskey, he tore the barback's heart clear from his chest like Kano from Mortal Kombat.

So, he has some anger management issues.  He also played running back and linebacker for Corcoran during high school.  He presumably had stats there because he made the Upstate all-star team.  I suppose there wasn't a "No Merciless Killers" prohibition for that game.  

2011 PROJECTIONS:  Will discover that unicorn tears are the world's strongest renewal resource.  That stuff will be like rocket fuel combined with Jagermeister.  Just badass bullet speed combined with forever power. 

He will also discover unicorns because, you, prerequisites and such.  Oh, yeah, he'll also wear his uniform for every home game -- the correct combination and everything! -- and show up for practices and stuff.

WHAT DID SCOUT/RIVALS SAY?: Like your Jewish uncle, they never heard of him.

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If all goes well, this should be the last day for this series.  It's been a long ride, I hope you've all enjoyed these.  To catch up on anyone you missed, click here.

Position:  Offensive Line

Year:  Freshman

Height:  6'4"

Weight:  321

Hometown:  Oneonta, NY

High School:  Oneonta 

2010 Stats:  N/A

2011 Projections:  Being a walk-on, I hope he doesn't need to see the field this year.  However, I've heard very good things about Wolf-Gould this summer, at one point he was even battling for the back-up center spot when our line was really depleted due to injury.  He might be a kid who could be a contributor down the road.

How'd He Get Here:  Jesse didn't get too many looks from programs, so he decided to stay in the area and walk-on at SU.

Recruiting Services:  All three have profiles for Jesse, but no stars were given out.  ESPN did give him a grade of 40.

Money Quote:

 jdubbs1218: Taking my talents to Syracuse (pending acceptance) cheeeaaa son!

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We counted down every SU football player from Chandler Jones (#99) to Phil Thomas (#1), as you can see here. However, some walk-ons slipped through the cracks. That's something we'll have to remedy, now isn't it?

Next up on your Orange-Man Orientation, #92, Riley Dixon.

Position: Punter/kicker

Year: Freshman

Height: 6'5"

Weight: 202

Hometown: Blossvale, NY

High School: Christian Brothers Academy

2010 Stats:  Not sure of his stats but he did well enough to be named to the 2010 All-CNY Team and the Class AA 3rd-Team. However, he had a rough finish to his high school career when his potentially-game-winning kick veered to the right, giving Baldwinsville a 15-13 victory over CBA at the Carrier Dome in the Section III Class AA football championship. Let that be the last time he misses he kick with the game on the line in the Dome...

2011 Projections: Never say never. Dixon injected himself into the Great Punting Battle of 2011. Shane Raupers won but we all know how quickly a kicker can lose their spot in the world of football. SU isn't above putting a walk-on into a bigtime kicking role if they earn it. That said, Dixon also has scholarship kicker Jonathan Fisher ahead of him as well.

How'd He Get Here?: He went to CBA. We needed a little kicking depth. You know how that goes...

Scouts/Rivals Said:. He wasn't exactly on their radars.

Money Quote: "It took off dead straight," Dixon said. "I thought it was one of the best kicks I ever had. Then, it started to fade right. I should have kicked it more to the left."

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I spelled it right first try.  Boo-yah.  

Click here for all of the previous players.

Position:  Defensive Tackle

Year:  Sophomore

Height: 6'3"

Weight:  288

Hometown:  Schenectady, NY

High School:  Albany Academy

2010 Stats:  He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, and played in one game for the Maroon Tigers.

2011 Projections:  I doubt he sees time this season.

How'd He Get Here?:  Depends.  If he came right from Atlanta after transferring, he might have flown.  I assume, however, that he went back home to Schenectady first at some point, so I believe it's safe to say that he drove to SU from there.

Recruiting Services?:  N/A

Money Quote:  N/A

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Bonus Orangemen!  So here's the story...we started doing this at the beginning of the summer, then a bunch of new walk-ons got added to the roster mid summer, and we'd already passed their numbers, so the last few profiles are the guys we've missed.  The mystery men of Syracuse football, as it were.  Click here for the rest of the Orangemen.

Position:  Wide Receiver

Year:  Freshman

Height:  6'0"

Weight:  198

Hometown:  Port Huron, MI

High School:  Port Huron Northern

2010 Stats:  As a high school senior, Hill hauled in 36 receptions for 698 yards and 13 or 14 TDs. Multiple links I've found have differing TD numbers.  Either way, not bad at all.

2011 Projections:  I haven't heard much about him.  I don't expect him to see the field this year.

How'd He Get Here?:  Hill had a scholarship to D-2 Northwood University, but decided to give D-1 a shot instead, and was asked to walk-on at SU by our coaching staff.

Recruiting Sites?:  Nothing here.

Money Quote:  On turning down the D-2 scholarship offer:

"I think I would regret it later in life knowing I could have tried Division I."

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We've finally reached the end.  Well, sort of.  There's some walk-ons to take care of and such but this is the end of regulation.  Hooray for everything!

Make sure that you catch up on all the profiles you may have missed by clicking this fancy blue text. If you don't, you'll look like a real maroon on Thursday if you have no idea what Nick Lepak ate for breakfast when he was six.  (Answer: Everything.)

PLAYER: Phillip Thomas

NUMBER: 1

POSITION: Safety

YEAR: Junior

HEIGHT: 5'11"

WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: Miami, FL

HIGH SCHOOL: Miami Edison Senior

2010 STATS: Playing next to #SHAMARKO last year, Thomas' impact to the Syracuse defense was a bit overlooked by some. In the overall, Thomas started all 13 of the Orange's games last year and ended up ninth in the Big East with 7.1 tackles per game.  In Syracuse's biggest games, Thomas came up huge: Against Kansas State, he had seven stops (four solo); against Rutgers, seven stops; against Boston College, he went into double digits will 11 hammerings; at Washington he went nuts -- 10 solo stops (one for a loss) and 12 overall.

Thomas is a just a shark stalking his prey. 

2011 PROJECTIONS:  I project Thomas to put three guys in body bags and a fourth in one of those comas that gets you on 20/20 as a super sad story.

This all, of course, while rehabbing a broken jaw:

The Thomas "brothers," as Shamarko Thomas referred to himself and fellow safety Phillip Thomas — no relation — are finally back together.

Phillip had surgery to repair a broken jaw suffered early in camp, and Shamarko missed time with a concussion, but both players are listed as starters for the Wake Forest game.

Both of them are juniors and are by far the most experienced players in the SU secondary after starting all last season.

So when each went down with an injury in camp, it didn't bode well for Orange faithful.

"It was pretty difficult (to sit out), but at the same time I was teaching the young guys just in case," Phillip said. "I'm plan A. Plan B is to teach the young guys."

Phillip said he is about 95 percent right now and on his way toward being fully healthy. He is back to wearing a helmet in practice after being restricted following surgery.  

Plan C is "Aw, hell.  We're totally screwed."

WHAT DID SCOUT/RIVALS SAY?: Scout two-starred the piss out of Thomas.  Rivals went the three star route, mostly out of fear of Thomas head hunting it as it tried to write profiles over the middle.

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We're counting down every SU football player from Chandler Jones (#99) to Phil Thomas (#1). Keep track of every player profile right here.

Next up on your Orange-Man Orientation, #2, Olando Fisher.

Position: Strong safety

Year: Senior

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 207

Hometown: Plainfield, NJ

High School: Plainfield HS

2010 Stats: After coming over from Nassau Community College (thanks Anselmo), Olando appeared in every game last season for SU, though mostly on special teams. He had 18 tackles on the season with a career-high of four in the Maine game. He also had three assisted tackles in the Pinstripe Bowl, coming up big when he needed him most.

2011 Projections: While Olando should see significant action on special teams again, he will likely also see a lot of PT at safety. He's No. 2 on the depth chart behind #SHAMARKO. Given the way injuries have affected the secondary so far, we'll be leaning heavily on Fisher to pick up the slack for any walking wounded around him.

How'd He Get Here?: Olando helped lead Nassau Community College to an 8-2 record in 2009, a year after John Anselmo left to become an assistant at SU. You could say that they knew each other well (not in a weird way or anything) and Fisher became one of a handful of NCC players in the pipeline.

Scouts/Rivals Said:.Scout said two stars, as did Rivals.

Money Quote: "I had a mission I had to accomplish, you know?" said Fisher, a slight island accent still present. "That was to go from Nassau and then come to here and try to win a starting job. I didn’t but I’ve played a lot, made a few plays and helped the team out. As long as I help the team out, it’s all good."’

Money Quote #2: This exchange from when a bunch of Syracuse players visited Fort Drum and played paintball:

"I want to shoot all these guys," Olando Fisher said.

"Who do you want to shoot the most?" our reporter asked Wilkes.

"Fish. Fish. Olando Fisher. He's talking a lot of trash. I'm going to get him good. I'm going to get him good," He replied.

"I want to shoot him too," Fisher joked of Wilkes. "I really want to shoot him right in his head."

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