Syracuse Football Recruiting: Ohio's Marquise Blair Verbally Commits to Orange

Right on the heels of a slew of verbal commitments in the last week or so, Syracuse nabs itself yet another recruit for 2015 (making it 15 overall). Ohio safety Marquise Blair committed this morning, becoming the third member of the secondary and first safety for the 2015 class. He's also the first recruit from Ohio in a class that's shown itself to be very geographically varied (seven different states represented so far). You can also chalk this one up as a win for linebackers coach Clark Lea, who handled the majority of the recruiting.

Some notes on Blair, who's positioned himself as one of Syracuse's best recruits thus far: He's a three-star according to Rivals, and the 52nd-best prospect in the state. He was offered by Purdue, along with the typical MAC suspects like Kent State and Toledo. Apparently Blair's a speedster, running a 4.41 40-yard dash (holy crap, guys). He made 75 tackles as a junior last year, and also caught 11 touchdown passes as a wide receiver -- all of those numbers are pretty impressive for the 6'3" 180-pound defender.

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So with Blair's commitment, Syracuse should continue to perform well in the national recruiting rankings -- things that don't matter, but sort of do at the same time. Perception is reality in college football, as we all know, so better rankings only make us look better. As far as we stand right now:

Rivals: 43rd (pre-Blair)

Scout: 57th (with Blair)

247: 29th (with Blair)

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Get excited, ya'll! There's no telling how far this momentum can carry us now. #15for15!!!