Syracuse Football: Riley Dixon is the 55th Orange Player Selected to Senior Bowl

The Senior Bowl is a big deal for college football players looking to impress scouts before the upcoming NFL Draft. And as you already know, Riley Dixon will be participating in the latest edition.

What you might not have known, however: Riley is the 55th Syracuse player to appear in the annual all-star game. That's pretty impressive, and also helps add context to just how good of a season the Orange punter/hurdler/runner/passer has had.

Some more stats for you about SU's now 55 selections to-date:

• Dixon is the first Orange punter selected, and the first player to play specifically on special teams.
• He's the fourth player selected this decade, joining 2013 attendees Alec Lemon, Justin Pugh and Ryan Nassib, respectively.
• From 1997 through 2007, Syracuse had at least one player selected to the Senior Bowl every year (18 in total)
• SU has had at least two players selected in every decade of the game's existence.
• The first Orange(men) player picked to play in the game was tackle Bob Fleck, in 1954.
• Despite Syracuse's illustrious running back history, only a handful have been selected to the Senior Bowl, excluding several that you'd have expected to be there. The only names from that position: Joe Morris (1982), Jamie Covington (1985), Daryl Johnston (1989), Rob Konrad (1999) and Tony Fiammetta. Obviously several hall of famers left off there, and eight of the top 10 rushers in Orange football history. Weird.

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So while you might be jaded by Dixon's numerous accomplishments this season, the selection to the Senior Bowl is still a big one for the star punter. Most of the SU players to attend this game have at least seen some time in the NFL. Based on that, and his excellent performance in 2015, you can only expect the same for Riley too.