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Yesterday, SU received two verbal commitments from offensive linemen Sam Clausman and Colin Byrne. Both players attend St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and were mainly recruited by offensive coordinator George McDonald. Clausman and Byrne are the Orange’s sixth and seventh verbal commits for the 2015 class. 3-star offensive tackle Cody Conway (Plainfield, Ill) also verbally committed yesterday. The other SU commits are running back Tyrone Perkins, running back Jordan Fredericks, defensive back Gerald Robinson Jr. and cornerback Davante Davis.
Clausman stands 6’4’’ and weighs 301 pounds. The only other Division I program to offer him a scholarship was Marshall. He may not be a big-name recruit (no major recruiting site has a profile on him), but according to floridahsfootball.com Clausman “might just be the hardest worker of them all.” His efforts in the gym clearly paid off last season. Judging from Clausman’s highlight tape, it is obvious that his strength is his best attribute. Clausman was not seriously recruited until he raised eyebrows with his performance at Nike’s 2014 Miami SPARQ (speed, power, agility, reaction, quickness) combine. 1,500 high school football players participated and Clausman finished with one of the top scores (81.39). To put that into perspective, Syracuse’s 2014 offensive line commit Denzel Ward scored just a 66.45 at a SPARQ combine last year.
Byrne is 6’5’’ and also weighs 300 pounds. The Syracuse offer was Byrne’s first and only Division I offer. He did not participate in the Miami SPARQ combine, but unlike Clausman, Rivals.com has him ranked as a 2-star recruit. Whereas Clausman plays more guard, Byrne is deployed as a tackle. He has impressive strength to create holes for runners and good speed (5.20 40-yard dash) to run out and make blocks in the open field.
Clausman and Byrne may not be as highly recruited as other Orange targets, but with their commitments Syracuse has landed two intelligent and robust players that will benefit SU’s offensive line down the road.
Posted by: Connor Morrissette
16 responses to “Syracuse Grabs Two More Verbals from Florida Offensive Linemen”
Great pickups! The biggest challenge in receiving these early verbals is hanging on to them until signing day! The coaches proved they could keep early verbals last year with Long, Moskal, Williams but with these kids being in such a high profile territory, the hardest work for coach mcd as yet to come.
Like their size… But it’s early.
I do like us in the Florida mix! You have to be seen and it takes time. This is all a good sign….
We all hope we can hang on to these kids!
From what I’ve read,there is still a player or two that Syracuse is going after besides these two linemen from St Thomas Aquinas Football Team.
Welcome to the Orangenation Sam Clausman,Colin Byrne and Cody Conway. All three of you will definately love Syracuse and their fans.
Surprisingly ,at least,to me Ward was reported to be a “work in progress kind of recruit. It seemed that for that kind of status he was in high demand. i’m glad we have him to do his work here in Syracuse.
As I have stated before, I like the direction our recruiting is taking with this staff. You can’t have too many Florida recruits. Florida and Illinois seems to be our strength right now. Our presence in the ACC will only enhance our ability to have a larger recruiting foot print especially in areas we were not strong in over the years.
If we can get back into NJ, along with Florida and Georgia and Illinois, I think we will start to rise in the ACC!!…Go Cuse!!
Ron,hi sorry but you know the stuff a good woman can do to you!?! I received you’re email but my carrier lapsed and i have to have my LT serviced as u know I’m not computer saavy…sorry to the guys for being off message here but needed to let Ron know Im really doing alright and staying busier than i used too lol.Births,nursing homes,irrate husbands etc…ha ha…nice to see were getting OL help but hope we crack the NJ nut while RU’s still “Flood”ed lol …u know their going to look for a high profile HC soon..we have to strike while the iron’s hot!!Where the heck is Terry? I’ll check here tomorrow if i can.I saw u got some help for the “garden” in your email!?!See ya tomorrow Ron…probably evening but maybe am!
Three OL pickups today. Wow, that is something. Stars or no stars Schafer & McDonald know what they are doing and I welcome these 3 players to the CUSE. Two from Florida & one from the Midwest. Interesting!!!!!
@Russell Dangerfield;
Damn Russell,I started to worry some,glad your alright and I do know what a good woman can do and what their worth. Nice to hear from you again.
A few weeks ago some members of this website was worried that Syracuse hadn’t received any early commitments and now that we have 7 of them the big thing now is can Syracuse hang onto them.
So what is it guy’s,do you want Shafer and crew to go out and get the recruits now or would you much prefer him having the recruits commit after their high school football season is over with?
We have 7 down with approximately 18 more to get. Set back and relax,and let MacDonald and Shafer work their magic and bring home some more good recruits.
It wasn’t that long ago that CUSE was the only ACC program without a “verbal”.
Now, I think we’re 6th with seven “verbals” out of some 13/14 teams. If nothing else, we can focus on players/positions of need somewhat early on.
Decent pick ups, but not really rated yet. Some sites have them(3) at 2 stars and a NR. So I’m interested but not totally convinced yet!! Would like to see a 3 star across from their name first!! The problem I see here is quality OL prospects might be scared off with these so far low rated players in camp!! But really damn it you do or damned if you don’t!! LOL!
Do not forget the kids of PSABUSEDU!! The NCAA did!!
Ron,yeah having trouble with my LT since Windows lapsed 8 Apr and going with a different browser…I don’t know much about these recruits but there big and 2 are from Fla…lets sit and see what happens next..I’d like Malone’s opinion on them as he’s more nationally in touch through twitter!! I guess ur planting is done and waiting to harvest?Yeah Ron shes a really good but strong woman the only kind that can hook me lol!!
Russell,I haven’t put anything into the ground yet. Been too wet.
Must be she’s very independant and can stand on her own two feet. Good for her.
As far as the three OL commit’s to syracuse,I think Shafer and McDonald is working overtime to get some good recruits to come here and play.
Ron,Too damn independant maybe? lol..my adapter blew out and i just went back online!! I’ll email u after the Memorial day weekend!!
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