Syracuse’s Steve Ishmael named first-team All-American by SB Nation

After earning All-ACC honors last week, Syracuse Orange wide receiver Steve Ishmael can turn his attention to the national awards. Those start with SB Nation, which included him as a first-team All-American in its voting released on Tuesday.

Now, admittedly, I had a vote here, and obviously voted for Ish. But it takes more than just one vote to make this happen. The panel of experts from across SB Nation and its team sites obviously saw what the senior was able to accomplish this year, and how much it meant to the Orange passing game’s success.

To recap Ishmael’s year: He has a school-record 105 catches for 1,347 yards and seven scores. In there were seven 100-yard games and six games of 11 or more receptions. He set a career-high in his final contest with 187 yards on 11 grabs vs. Boston College.

After a record-setting 2017, Ishmael will graduate with the all-time receiving yardage mark in school history (2,891), a top-five touchdown total (18) and the second-most receptions of any player at SU. Not bad for a guy whose career-best was 48 catches going into this season, due to inept offensive systems his first two years.

Congrats to Steve, and there should be many more postseason honors coming his way soon.