Syracuse football: now that the transfer portal has opened what will the Orange need to add to their list?

As the transfer portal swells to over 1,000 players, the Syracuse Orange must keep an eye on that list while preparing for the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.

Just to recap where things stand right now, the Orange have the following players leaving via the portal:

WR: Courtney Jackson, Anthony Queeley, Dom Foster

OL: Tyler Magnuson

DL: Josh Hough

With Early Signing Day coming up on December 21st, this is the list of current 2023 commits:

QB: LaNorris Sellers

RB: Ike Daniels, Muwaffaq Parkman

WR: Bryce Cohoon

TE: David Clement

OL: Jayden Bass, Lysander Moeleo- transfer from Navarro College

DL: Rashard Perry, Jalil Smith

LB: Zyian Moultrie-Goddard

It’s early but Syracuse has been mentioned with a couple of notable transfer targets in Virginia QB Brennan Armstrong (speculated reunion with Robert Anae and Jason Beck) and Rhode Island OL Ajani Cornelius. Cornelius, like Jared Verse last season, is getting big-time interest, but maybe the White Plains, NY native wants to play close to home?

One other transfer of interest is Rochester native and UConn running back Nathan Carter.

It doesn’t seem to be a position of need, but we all agree that the Orange could certainly use talent across the board so it’s worth mentioning these players despite positions. Two NY players should certainly warrant at least a conversation.

And speaking of position need, as a staff we’ve discussed the positions Syracuse should focus on in the portal. We don’t have a consensus but we’ve all identified OL, DL, WR, LB and CB as areas to address.

If you look at the commit list you can see that Syracuse has one JUCO offensive lineman coming in and a lot of young players on the roster, but is anyone ready to step into Matthew Bergeron’s spot? It seems like the best case scenario here would be to find an experienced college left tackle to anchor the line, which will be replacing three starters.

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Defensive line depth was an issue this year and the Orange have some promising young ends, but another interior player would be a welcome addition for 2023. The same issue arises with WR and CB where younger players seem ready to step in, but can you afford to turn down interested talent? We saw that transfers DeVaughn Cooper, D’Marcus Adams, and Alijah Clark were all contributors this fall, even if the Orange add players to help on special teams while the 2023 class spends time adapting to the college game.

This list is subject to change pending additional departures to the Draft or the portal, but what position (s) would you like to see Syracuse address before January?