Texas A&M grad transfer OT Koda Martin joins Syracuse football

With a few scholarships available, the Syracuse Orange football program has some leeway to add some bodies to the roster before the 2018 season starts. There are some positions we could use some experienced help at -- wide receiver, linebacker, safety, defensive tackle — and sure, I guess offensive line as well, just because it’s always worth adding more help there.

We mention that last one because Syracuse officially made an O-line grad transfer addition late Thursday, in the form of former Texas A&M Aggies offensive tackle Koda Martin:

As Martin mentions above, his dad is Kirk Martin, Syracuse’s new quarterbacks coach. And Dino Babers is also his father-in-law.

But that doesn’t take away from the pedigree he brings with him to Central New York. Coming out of Manvel High School, Martin was a three-star tackle and a top-500 national recruit. At A&M, he started 14 games, including 10 this past season. Given the fact that he was in Kevin Sumlin’s up-tempo offense these past few years, that’s some pretty valuable experience for the Orange.

At 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, he’d be one of the biggest O-linemen on the team. And while this may seem like a depth add at first, Martin was a starter at an SEC school that has one year to play. Syracuse has tackle Cody Conway already, and Airon Servais has been playing on the right side of the line in practice. He hasn’t been there long, though, having started at center in 2017.

Could this be a shake-up to this seasoned O-line? Or just a quality depth add to give guys some more rest? It’s unlikely we find that out before August.