Syracuse Football: The Legend Of Ron Thompson Begins

The potential of Ashton Broyld aside, there is no first-year player I'm more excited about on the Syracuse Orange football roster than tight end Ron Thompson. I've been gushing over the 6'4", 225-pound, four-star tight end for months now and am expecting a huge impact from a guy who's only been playing organized football for two years.

According to Dave Rahme, Thompson is already on his path to glory thanks to some impressive workouts noticed by the veterans.

"After we got done running I saw him do a standing back flip," senior wide receiver Alec Lemon said. "That really shocked me. A kid that big can do a back flip? He’s very athletic. That’s one kid who stood out to me especially."

One extremely curious note from Rahme. Despite being listed as 225, Thompson weighs in at 266 on the new depth chart, which is either a mistake or the result of a serious Chipotle binge.

How impressed is Doug Marrone with Thompson's early workouts? Not very.

"Everybody looks good in shorts," Marrone said. "Everybody looks good in their underwear. Well, not everybody. I don’t."

Thanks for the mental image, coach...