Syracuse football recruiting: Orange sign JUCO DT Shaquille Grosvenor

In our Syracuse Orange defensive line preview a couple weeks back, we expressed some concern about the tackle position, especially given Steven Clark’s current health situation.

Tonight’s news certainly helps allay at least some of those concerns.

Mesa Community College defensive tackle Shaquille Grosvenor announced he was signing with Syracuse on Twitter Friday evening.

As Stephen Bailey notes over on Syracuse.com, Grosvenor has three years left to play three seasons for the Orange.

While he attended junior college in Arizona, Grosvenor’s from West Orange, N.J. originally. He’s 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds, which puts him in the top half of defensive lineman on the roster right now, in terms of weight. All of that said, his only other offers came from Arkansas State and Lamar (FCS).

Even with the shortage of defensive tackles right now, the Orange only added one for 2017 (Curtis Harper) until now. Grosvenor becomes the second. They’ll join Chris Slayton, Kayton Samuels, McKinley Williams and Steven Clark as the only tackles on the roster. That’s not a lot of options, but also means likely playing time for everyone in the rotation.

JUCOs have been a fixture of the last couple years as Dino Babers tries to up the talent level while also building depth on the roster. Two JUCO signees are already on campus this spring, in tight end Ravian Pierce and linebacker Ryan Guthrie. Safety Mykelti Williams and defensive end Brandon Berry will arrive this summer along with the rest of the 2017 class.

Congrats to Shaquille on his commitment, and welcome to Syracuse! Along with us needing a defensive tackle, we certainly needed a Shaquille on this roster as well. Now we have one and the references to Kazam, 15 years of NBA action and a questionable broadcasting career that come with having a player named Shaquille.

(but seriously, congrats, and can’t wait to see him provide some much-needed help on the D-line)