Early signing period: 2022 WR Donovan Brown signs with Syracuse

Once again, we’re covering the early signing period. And as always, we’re welcoming the newest Syracuse Orange football players to the program between Wednesday and Friday, (but largely just Wednesday) by adding profiles here on TNIAAM — once players fax in their letters of intent. Next is Donovan Brown, a three-star wideout from the state of Maryland.

Twitter feed: @kxngdono

Hometown: Gaithersburg, Md.

Previous School: Quince Orchard

Stats: 6’3”, 180 lbs.

Commitment date: July 30, 2021

Position: Wide receiver

Ratings: Three stars, says both 247Sports and ESPN. Rivals disagrees and only gives him two, but we’ll ignore that.

Other Offers: Brown wasn’t recruited super heavily, but did hold offers from Vanderbilt as well as the Orange.

Dino’s projected nickname: “Donovan is the New Fast.” Brown is an elite sprinter, with state championships in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash. We’ve been looking for a speedy option at receiver. Perhaps Brown’s that guy.

Player Breakdown: As mentioned, Brown is pretty quick, and that’s an asset in this offense — especially if it gets back to the speed we were used to operating at pre-2019. While you probably want him to add a little bit of weight at just 180 pounds right now, he already has the speed and height to make things interesting in a slot role. Obviously you don’t want any muscle gain to take away from his acceleration. Just don’t want him getting lit up going over the middle either. Syracuse has a lot of bigger guys with reasonable speed on the roster right now, who’ve yet to see too many snaps. So he’s probably a year or two away. That’s not a bad thing, though.

Highlights: