Last week, we started to look at the QB Situation, and on Monday we reviewed our Running Backs. Today, we’re going to look at the WR situation, dissect the committed recruits, and see what we’re looking at moving forward.
On Campus
Jarrod West, Redshirt Senior
Adrian Flemming, Redshirt Senior
Jeremiah Kobena, True Senior
Quinta Funderburk, Redshirt Junior
Keenan Hale, Redshirt Junior
Ashton Broyld, True Junior
Alvin Cornelius, Redshirt Sophomore
Ben Lewis, Redshirt Sophomore
Brisly Estime, True Sophomore
Sean Avant, Redshirt Freshman
Corey Cooper, True Freshman
Adly Enoicy, True Freshman
Jamal Custis, True Freshman
Steve Ishmael, True Freshman
2015 Recruits
Westerband "West" Lindor, Affton HS, MO (@WestL33) – West was recruited to play the "Y" in the Syracuse offense, which is a hybrid WR/TE, similar to a Jimmy Graham role. He plays the position where you’ll see Custis and Enoicy lining up this season. West should be visiting SU for the first time this month.
Lindor is an excellent student, so there should be no worries about him qualifying. He’s a three-sport athlete, and you can tell by his tape that he ran track and played basketball. He can stretch the field and go up and get jump balls, which is largely due to his size. Since Syracuse hasn’t had a guy that can do that since Mike Williams (you could maybe argue Marcus Sales). His size and speed combination will be a great asset to our offense.
Offers - Syracuse, Arkansas State
Moving Forward
When Coach George McDonald took over last year, he took a look at the WR corps and quickly decided that he needed a complete revamping. The staff has brought in six wide receivers in the last two classes. Every single one of them has drawn solid reviews, and while not all will feature this season, I’d expect to see impact performances from Brisly Estime and Steve Ishmael.
As I mentioned in the article about the running backs, I’d expect to see our offense take some major cues from UCLA’s N-Zone offense. We’ll have the shifty guys that can make plays in the open field (Estime, Cooper, Avant, possibly Erv Philips), but instead of specific possession guys or deep threats, I think we’ll have a pretty diverse group of outside receivers that can do both. West, Flemming, Broyld, and Funderburk, on top of the freshmen in Ishmael, Enoicy, and Custis, will all have a role to play in the offense this year. That amount of depth will also allow George McDonald to stick to his high paced offensive style without having to worry about tired players or injuries.
Size has definitely been a point of emphasis in our receiver recruiting since Doug Marrone took over in 2008. Our outside receivers are all over six feet, and most are a few inches taller than that. Despite not being as tall as the outside guys, our slot receivers are all tremendously quick and run excellent routes. We’re specializing our positions and finding specific players that fit the best. The size mismatches will be apparent once the season starts. While a team might have one large, physical CB to match up, chances are they won’t have two or three, and we’ll be able to exploit that.
The amount of athletes we have stockpiled on the outside is pretty remarkable for a program based in central New York, and I’m expecting great things from the offense. This season we’ll see flashes, but the 2015 season will be one to watch.
The staff has offers in the class of 2016 out to wide recievers Binjiman Victor and Brad Hawkins, but neither player has much interest in the Orange. Jovani Haskins (@Nani__7) and Isaiah Wright are the only other two receivers with an SU offer in the 2016 cycle so far, but despite the fact we have three graduates, I’m only expecting us to take a single WR in this class.