Syracuse football scholarship breakdown: Post-early signing period

The Syracuse Orange football team currently has 81 scholarships committed to players — technically 82, if we’re counting the “mystery” recruit that’s yet to be named for the 2020 cycle. As mentioned earlier today, that means there are a handful of spots remaining for the rest of this recruiting class. But it also gives us an opportunity to look at the roster’s current breakdown of scholarship-level talent.

First off, here’s the numerical breakdown by graduation year and position:

Some of the concerns off the bat: Quarterback and linebacker numbers. But going year by year...

2020 (14 players)

• QB: Rex Culpepper
• RB: Abdul Adams
• WR: Trishton Jackson, Nykeim Johnson
• TE: Chris Elmore, Aaron Hackett
• OL: Patrick Davis, Sam Heckel, Airon Servais
• DL: Josh Black, Kingsley Jonathan, McKinley Williams
• DB: Devon Clarke, Allen Stritzinger

Another smaller class headed out, though some impactful players in there for certain. The O-line departures present a lot of shoes to fill for a group that already has a lot of question marks. And the D-line has backfills, but that’s also three projected starters. Elmore and Hackett are both players that are tough to replace, though recent recruiting also potentially helps, at least.

2021 (19 players)

• QB: Tommy DeVito
• RB: Jarveon Howard, Markenzy Pierre
• WR: Taj Harris, Sharod Johnson, Cameron Jordan, Russell Thompson-Bishop
• OL: Dakota Davis, Darius Tisdale
• DL: Curtis Harper, Zach Morton
• LB: Tyrell Richards, Kadeem Trotter, Juan Wallace
• DB: Andre Cisco, Eric Coley, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Trill Williams
• ST: Andre Szmyt

A larger group, and one with some big departures — specifically at quarterback, tight end, defensive back and kicker. The concerns about the roster’s QB position stem from current starter DeVito having just two years left. And that DBs list includes two of four projected starters, plus Trill, one of the team’s most notable playmakers. Szmyt is also a big loss, but one that this year’s recruiting class may address.

2022 (15 players)

• WR: Ed Hendrix, Cooper Lutz, Anthony Queeley
• TE: Luke Benson
• OL: Chris Bleich, Matthew Bergeron, Wil Froumy, Mark Petry, Carlos Vettorrello, Qadir White
• DL: Caleb Okechukwu
• LB: Geoff Cantin-Arku, Mikel Jones, Lee Kpogba
• DB: Cam Jonas

Linebacker and O-line are the big concerns here — especially OL, where these three players are likely to be your starters and there’s only one other guy at the position past this year.

2023 (33 players)

• QB: David Summers
• RB: Garrison Johnson, Jawhar Jordan, Sean Tucker, Marlowe Wax
• WR: Damien Alford, Justin Barron, Courtney Jackson, Kevin Mital, Trebor Pena, Ja’Vontae Williams
• TE: Steven Mahar, Maximilian Mang
• OL: Anthony Red, Garth Barclay, Josh Ilaoa
• DL: Cooper Dawson, Ishmael Goulbourne, Latarie Kinsler, Kevin Lemieux, Steve Linton, Leon Lowery, Jason Munoz, Joe Rondi, Andrew Tuazama
• LB: Stefon Thompson
• DB: Adrian Cole, Aman Greenwood, Robert Hanna, Ben LaBrosse, Neil Nunn, Garrett Williams
• ST: James Williams

It’s a sign of Syracuse building some meaningful depth over time that this many players still have four years left to play. Again, linebacker’s a position to target. But the D-line and wide receiver depth here is awesome. And while it could create some growing pains if SU suffers an injury or two next fall, there’s a lot there for the future.

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Anything else look concerning? Surprisingly good? Share your own thoughts below.