Syracuse Recruiting: Breaking Down the Defensive Tackle Situation

Over the last few weeks, we’ve covered the offense, and started the defense last week with DE. Here are the recaps for QB, RB, WR, TE, and OL.

Today we look at the defensive tackle position, as we dissect the committed recruits, and see what we’re looking at moving forward.

On Campus

Eric Crume, True Senior

John Raymon, Redshirt Junior

Wayne Williams, Redshirt Junior

Ryan Sloan, Redshirt Junior

Marcus Coleman, Redshirt Sophomore

Jalen Harvey, True Freshman

Kayton Samuels, True Freshman

2015 Recruits

Ty Cross, Chapel Hill HS, GA (@T_Cross52) – Cross came out of nowhere when he committed back in June. He didn’t have a profile on any recruiting sites, and it took a long time after Eric White’s "BOOM" to decipher who he was. Despite that, he’s an excellent prospect and it will be fun to see him perform now that he’s no longer under the radar.

Cross is very quick off the ball and stays low at the point of attack. He causes havoc in the middle of the line to break up plays. While he’s a bit undersized for his position currently, he definitely has the frame and athleticism to put on that extra weight under Will Hicks in a college S&C program. He also has a good eye for the ball carrier and quick reactions.

Offers – Syracuse, Memphis, UCF, Georgia State

Anthony Guidice, Avon Old Farms, CT (@giudice_79) – Guidice was one of the many June commits to Syracuse. The staff likely spotted him during their recruitment of teammate Chris Clark.

Giudice certainly isn’t the quickest player we’ve ever recruited but he does everything else pretty well. He already has developed moves to free himself from blockers and doesn’t over pursue. It seems like he frequently puts himself in good positions as well. He also has quite a nasty streak as evidenced by the offensive side of his tape, viciously driving opposing linemen into the turf.

Offers – Syracuse

Moving Forward

Like Defensive End, this is a position where the Orange look to bring in one more prospect. Defensive Tackle is one of the hardest positions to recruit in college football, and combined with Syracuse’s injury problems at the position there is a priority here. The staff is working as hard as they can on Jamal Milan (@jmal_is_my_name) and it’s between the Orange and Illinois for his signature. If Milan doesn’t choose the Orange, there’s the potential that David Ryslik (@DRyslik_77) is offered the chance to join the growing Jersey contingent.

The defensive tackle position is hard to break down, it’s tough to pick out a specific mold that the staff is looking for. However, based on the tapes of the above prospects, as well as the tapes from Kayton Samuels and Jalen Harvey, it appears that aggression in the trenches is a key attribute. All these kids hit hard, and disrupt play at the point of attack. That attitude is important as we’ve seen with players like Max Beaulieu and most of the linemen under GERG. Hardnosed is a perfect way to describe the players we’re bringing in.

While Crume is the only senior on the roster, this is a position that is a priority moving forward as the numbers aren’t yet where they need to be. The Orange will probably look to bring in at least one more DT in the 2016 class, and if numbers allow I could see them bringing in two.