While The Fizz introduced a new Syracuse QB target yesterday in Jarrett Collins, he isn’t the only Class of 2016 QB the Orange has its sights set on. Yesterday afternoon, Syracuse.com’s Stephen Bailey tweeted that Tampa quarterback Rex Culpepper would be taking a visit to Syracuse next week and could be close to making a decision.
Culpepper is ranked as a 3-star recruit according to Rivals and 247sports. And as of new, 247sports says Culpepper holds offers from Clemson, Mississippi, Miami, Florida, and Ohio State. With all those suitors, you may think the Orange has no chance, but Culpepper told Scout.com that right now, Syracuse is number one.
It has been a rough week for SU in the Class of 2016 QB race. Syracuse has already lost Anthony Brown to BC and Sawyer Smith to UCF. But Syracuse will likely continue to recruit both of them, as well as David Moore, an SMU commit at the moment. Add in Collins and Culpepper, and the Orange seem very concerned over its quarterback following this season.
It is widely documented that Scott Shafer has already named Terrel Hunt the starting quarterback this year. Because it doesn’t matter all that much, let’s just assume Hunt makes it through the entire season as the starter. That means in 2016 already in Syracuse candidates for QB include AJ Long, Austen Wilson, Kenterius Womack and Eric Dungey. That seems like a big enough group to work with for the 2016 season, and it seems interesting that the Orange continue to look for quarterback help.
Of course, maybe the coaching staff doesn’t see any of those quarterbacks as multi-year starters, and it is possible that none of them are. And yes, last year taught us you can never have enough quarterbacks. But if you get down to QB 5, there really isn’t much reason to worry who QB 5 is, right?
So what is the real motivation behind going after all these quarterbacks in the Class of 2016? Well, maybe the Tim Lester and the Orange are hoping that one of them may actually be able to come in on Day 1 and be the starting quarterback for 4 years. Or it is possible that the quarterbacks recruited potentially fit really well into what George McDonald did, but don’t look so good in the Tim Lester vision for the offense.
Whatever the reasoning, the Orange keep going after quarterbacks in the Class of 2016, and we will watch as it continues.
Posted By: Seth Goldberg
2 responses to “Syracuse Zeroing in on QBs in Class of 2016”
This year…Hunt is the starter and i believe Wilson will be #2.
Fast forward to 2016 and we might have 2 RS Freshman in Womack and Dungey, Wilson would have 2 more years of eligibility and hopefully Culpepper and Long…and we could have the same group for 2017. I’m pretty comfortable with that group going forward assuming a 4/5 star QB doesn’t fall into our lap.
We wanted Brown. Smith and Moore I question how much interest there is on both ends. If Culpepper commits, I think CUSE starts looking at Qbs for 2017.
hunt is likely to start this year, however may push him out immediately.
Womack will be the guy 2016 and 17, winning both heismen and will be the first pick overall in draft.
Then dungey will get a shot in 18 if su an keep him, its tough to convince a 5 star elite recruit to sit for three years, however in the next year or two SU will be seen as the best program in the country so guys may be willing to sit for a year or two.
Culpepper has been described by unnamed coaches as ‘the greatest high school that they have ever even heard about, let alone seen’. Which is high praise and Urban Meyer is desperate for his signature but now that SU has stepped in Meyer can’t even get the kid on the phone. Damn Shafer is a brilliant recruiter he has Meyer and Saban picking from his scraps already.
Shafer never wanted Brown, Smith or Moore at all. Those were smokescreens to hide their interest in Culpepper the best QB recruit in the country. Programs like Alabama and Ohio State watch an elite program like Syracuse and pick who they want from people with syracuse interest because they know the syracuse staff has an unmatched ability to find talent.
Have to give Shafer credit for the smokescreen and especially with BC jumping in and getting Brown thinking syracuse had interest lol.