Get To Know Your Orange Man - #91 Brandon Sharpe

Last year we counted down every SU football player from Chandler Jones (#99) to Phil Thomas (#1), as you can see here. Well both of those guys (and a few more in between) are gone and it's time to profile the entire 2012 Syracuse Orange football roster starting with the highest number and working out way down. Let's get to it...

Player: Brandon Sharpe

Number: #91

Position: Defensive End

Year: Senior

Height:6'2"

Weight: 245

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Va

High School: Ocean Lakes

2011 Stats: Played in all 12 games - 11 tackles, 8 assisted tackles, one forced fumble

2012 Projections: Sharpe should see a sharpe (I'm punny!) increase in action this season. The recently released depth chart has Sharpe penciled in at no. 1. And given the departure's of Chandler Jones and Mikhail Marinovich and back up Torrey Ball, Sharpe could very well have a monster year.

Scout.com says 2012 should be Sharpe's time to shine,

For senior Brandon Sharpe, it’s suddenly a case of now or never. The converted linebacker has played plenty during his career, but primarily as a backup, making 45 tackles, 9.5 stops for loss and 7.5 sacks as a situational pass rusher over the past three seasons.

How'd He Get Here: As Dan pointed out last year, Sharpe, and high school teammate Shamarko Thomas, was thisclose to going to Louisvile. Both players committed to play for the Cardinals, but that power of Marrone can be compelling.

What did Scout/Rivals Say?: A two star recruit, Sharpe didn't generate too much recruiting hype. Although, he was something of a package deal with Thomas, as the two committed to both UL and then SU together.

Money Quote: Brandon say the team has taken the offseason as time to come together and work to get better.

"I feel like it started before the spring. It started with winter work outs and winter conditioning. We knew coming back from last season that we had to work a lot harder, that we had to come a lot closer if we want to start winning games."

Links of Wonder: What has Sharpe done for SU lately? How about scoring the only touchdown in last month's spring game?

What Does Doug Marrone Think?: Marrone to Nolan Weidner of the Syracuse Post Standard on how the offense he controlled in the spring game couldn't score against Sharpe's defense.

"I can only talk about one side," said Marrone, who guided the Team Moore offense. "Obviously we took a lot of shots (downfield). We made some plays at times. It wasn’t from a lack of not taking enough shots down the field."

Sharpe represented the United States in the IFAF Junior World Championship. The U.S. won the title, beating Canada 99 - 2. Of course that's not the real score, or is it? You have no clue.

Let Us Get a Good Look at You: Here's highlights of Sharpe that Dan posted last year. Come for highlights of Sharpe in high school, stay for a heartrending edition of 'When the saints go marching in.'