5 hours Ago
Brent Axe | [email protected] Syracuse, N.Y.
— Axe me your questions and I’ll tell you no lies. Sometimes I write this column for you and sometimes you write it for me. This was definitely a week you wrote it for me as a theme certainly developed from your inquires via email and the Syracuse Sports Insider text line .
Let’s get right to it. Brent, enjoying watching replay of game. Just curious, who will be the leading candidate for QB next season or will we look at portal again? Thank you.
-Steve Troendle Any hunch on who we are targeting at QB for next year ? -John C Brent, With Kyle McCord spoiling us with his proficiency behind center this year, I’m wondering other than another incoming transfer quarterback ready for 2025, how we are looking with a recruit, Luke Carney of Texas, and current freshman Jakhari Williams? -TK I told you there was a theme this week. With just two games remaining in Kyle McCord’s Syracuse career (yes, I said two. We’ll get more into that below), Syracuse fans are starting to look over the horizon at who will be SU’s starting quarterback in 2025.
SU hit the transfer portal lottery with McCord, who set the school single-season completions record against Cal with now 304 on the year. McCord needs just two more touchdowns to tie the single-season touchdown passes record (26) and is less than 300 yards from breaking the single-season passing record (3,749). He is second in the country in passing yards (3,476) and seventh in touchdown passes (24).
With the clock ticking on McCord’s one-year supernova in Orange, asking who takes the reins is a legitimate question. Current roster Redshirt senior Michael Johnson Jr. is out of eligibility after this season.
Redshirt junior Carlos Del Rio-Wilson has failed to separate himself from the pack after winning the backup job in spring practice, and an undisclosed injury has kept him from suiting up for a good chunk of the season. Walk-on freshmen AJ Miller and Patrick Grusser are not on the level to take over the job at this point. Syracuse quarterback Jakhari Williams heads to practice before the first game against Ohio.
Dennis Nett | [email protected] dennis nett | [email protected] My view of Williams has been too limited at open spring and fall camp practices to make a firm determination of whether he’s the heir apparent at quarterback.
Recruits As for recruits, Syracuse has an intriguing prospect coming in for the class of 2025 in Luke Carney (6-2, 205 pounds) from Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas. Carney has eclipsed 10,000 career passing yards and 100 career passing touchdowns in his high school career while winning three state titles for Dallas Christian. Carney is the nation’s No.
817 overall prospect, No. 57 quarterback and No. 124 recruit from Texas in the 2025 cycle according to On3 .
SU also received a commitment from Rich Belin , a quarterback at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. Belin (6-feet, 185 pounds) is ranked as a three-star prospect in the 247 Sports composite rankings, which label him the No. 14 prospect in New York in the Class of 2025, the No.
91 quarterback prospect nationally and the No. 1,442 prospect in the country. Belin has been training with former Syracuse quarterback Madei Williams since he was about 10 years old.
Williams, who played quarterback at Syracuse from 1998 to 2000, told syracuse.com that Belin has the intangibles to thrive at the position at the Power-Four level despite his short stature and the fact SU was the only Power-Four school to offer a scholarship during his recruitment. Given these are the options on the table, I have no doubt that Syracuse head coach Fran Brown is going to hit the portal again to find a bridge quarterback for the Orange.
There will be plenty of options to choose from. Early entrants into the portal include Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos. In eight games this year, Castellanos had 1,366 yards, 18 touchdowns, five interceptions, a 61.
5% completion percentage, 194 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Former UNLV and Holy Cross quarterback Matthew Sluka is in the portal as well. You’ll recall he walked away from UNLV just before the Rebels played Syracuse in Las Vegas over an NIL dispute.
UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka runs the ball against Kansas on Sept. 13 at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan. Sluka is redshirting the rest of the 2024 season over an NIL dispute with UNLV.
(AP Photo/Ed Zurga) AP A source familiar with the situation told me that Sluka has expressed interest in landing at Syracuse. I’m not sure if that interest is mutual, however. Sluka threw for 5,916 yards and 59 touchdowns while rushing for 3,583 yards and 38 scores at Holy Cross.
He set the NCAA Division I record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback with 330 against Lafayette last season. Brown, offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon and quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile will keep a close eye on quarterbacks they have recruited before or otherwise have connections with when the regular season ends on November 30 after the Orange plays Miami. The portal is open December 9-30.
Brent, in your opinion- if McCord doesn’t play in a bowl game for Syracuse- is that just for injury prevention? I hope future NIL contracts have bowl game clauses. It’s a weird feeling to celebrate becoming bowl eligible, knowing that most star players don’t even play in them anymore. Not sure how to feel about this.
-Bryan Bryan, if I was McCord’s agent, I would advise him not to play in SU’s bowl game. It’d be one thing if Syracuse was competing for an ACC title or a spot in the expanded college football playoff. McCord has more than proven himself at the college level (see stats above).
Why risk a budding NFL career to play in, say, the Pop-Tarts Bowl (and I love the Pop-Tarts Bowl). If he chooses to play one extra game in a Syracuse uniform, then we’ll all enjoy it. But if you ask me, that becomes a time a player has every right to be selfish and lock in on NFL Draft preparation.
In the meantime, enjoy McCord under center for the Orange while it lasts. Contact Brent Axe: Email | X Stories by Brent Axe ACC football Power Rankings: Where does Syracuse land after win at Cal? How close is Syracuse football to the Top 25 after win at Cal? Winners get washed: Syracuse’s most complete effort of season takes down Cal (Axe’s quick takes) Axe: Of course Kiyan Anthony is coming to Syracuse. The question now is where to set the bar Syracuse football adds two games to scheduling agreement with UConn.
