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Name: Jesse Conners
Position: Tight end
Year: (Redshirt) Sophomore
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 231
Hometown: Pittsford, N.Y.
High School: Salisbury School
2017 Stats: In his first year on the Syracuse Orange roster, he sat out due to NCAA transfer rules.
2018 Projections: The walk-on might not see the field much, but he has some pass-catching ability that could help him work his way into the action. Worst-case, he’ll be busy on special teams.
How’d He Get Here: Conners started his college career at Holy Cross, but after a redshirt season, decided it was time to head back to the CNY area. Since NCAA transfer rules make no sense, he had to sit out a year going from FCS to FBS (while he wouldn’t have had to going the opposite direction).
What’d Recruiting Sites Say: Not much — they actually saw him as more of a linebacker at the time.
Money Quote: Conners didn’t really know he was all that good at football until late in his high school career, according to this March article from Nate Mink:
“After my junior year I started getting calls from all these FCS schools. I’m like, ‘Dad, it would be cool to keep it going, if I can get better and play at the next level.’ Everyone was like, ‘Oh, he’s good, but he’s never going to play at prep school.’ If it happens, it happens. So I went out and did really well.”
Twitter feed: @Jesse_conners
Tweets of Wonder: Not bad company at all for Conners to be part of.
Top 5 TE transfers 2018:
— CFB Focus (@cffmwachsman) February 19, 2018
1 Thaddeus Moss/LSU (NC State)
2 Jesse Conners/Syracuse (Holy Cross)
3 Mavin Saunders/Kansas (Florida State)
4 Devin Asiasi/UCLA (Michigan)
5 Jake Hescock/UCF (Wisconsin)
What movie would Dino recommend for him?: Not sure how much Dino Babers (or Jesse) is a fan of horror flicks, but 2012’s “Cabin the Woods” is a scary movie of the self-aware variety and also features Jesse Williams.
Interesting Nugget O’Interest: Conners is in a family full of elite athletes. His brother plays for Virginia lacrosse (boooooo), and his sister actually competed in the Olympics this year, figure skating for Israel.
Let’s Get a Good Look Atcha: Stephen Bailey captured the battle between walk-ons Connerse and Lesko in spring ball last year (before Lesko transferred to UT-Chattanooga).
Video: Syracuse DE Zack Lesko and TE Jesse Conners battle it out (after a penalized Fredrick/Perkins round) pic.twitter.com/65ApdFIpzy
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) April 4, 2017