SYRACUSE — The Syracuse football team did not have a player taken in the NFL Draft when it concluded on Saturday.
Two-hundred and fifty-seven players were taken between Thursday’s first round and Saturday’s seventh round. It’s the second time in three years that the Orange didn’t have a player selected.
Syracuse did have two players chosen in 2023, when Matthew Bergeron and Garrett Williams were both selected in the first three rounds.
Defensive back Isaiah Johnson was widely considered Syracuse’s best bet to have a player selected although draft experts varied in whether they viewed him as a late-round pick or a priority free agent. Johnson and a handful of departing Syracuse players should still get a chance at making the NFL but they will have to go the more difficult route and try to make a team as an undrafted free agent.
Players that seem likely to sign as free agents include Chris Bleich, Caleb Okechukwu and Jason Simmons. Quarterback Garrett Shrader will be an interesting case since he is still recovering from surgery.
Syracuse was one of just three teams that played in the ACC last season that didn’t have a player selected, joining Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. Among the league’s new three additions (Southern Methodist, Stanford and California), SMU also did not have a player chosen.
Florida State led all ACC teams with nine players who were drafted, including six of the Top 100 selections. Clemson had six players taken. The Seminoles won the ACC, finished unbeaten and were one of the best teams in the country last year, missing the playoffs because of an injury to quarterback Jordan Travis.
Former Syracuse running back Jawhar Jordan, who was behind star Sean Tucker on the Orange depth chart and transferred after two seasons, was taken in the 6th round. He finished his career at Louisville and was one of four Cardinals that were drafted. The Cardinals finished second in the league to Florida State last year.
Upgrading Syracuse’s talent level was considered the most critical task for new coach Fran Brown and was likely the area that hurt former head coach Dino Babers the most during his tenure at Syracuse.
Brown appears to have gotten off to a strong start in that area, bringing in one of the top transfer classes in the country and helping the Orange to its highest-ranked high school recruiting class of the rankings era despite getting a late start on the group .
JOHNSON SIGNS WITH DOLPHINS
Syracuse football defensive back Isaiah Johnson has signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent, according to sports agency Exclusive Sports Group.
Johnson came into this weekend’s NFL Draft as the Orange’s most intriguing name thanks to having excellent size for a cornerback and solid production throughout his college career.
At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds Johnson possesses the rangy frame that the NFL prioritizes at defensive back, although his lack of ideal NFL footspeed generated questions about whether his best fit was at the professional level would be at cornerback or safety.
Johnson ran the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds during the NFL Combine, toward the slow end of players considered to be NFL prospects. He went undrafted.
Syracuse defensive backs developed under former head coach Dino Babers have done well in the NFL in recent years with Andre Cisco, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Garrett Williams all getting drafted and sticking on NFL rosters.
Johnson will look to do the same, although he will have an uphill battle as an undrafted free agent.
Johnson played two years at Syracuse after transferring from Dartmouth and was graded by Pro Football Focus as the Orange’s second-best defensive player last year. He finished with 62 tackles, seven passes broken up, an interception and a forced fumble.
The previous year he finished with 53 tackles, an interception and a pass break-up.
ROGERS SIGNS ON WITH GIANTS
Former Westhill football and lacrosse standout Casey Rogers has signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent, according to The Oregonian’s James Crepea.
Rogers is the son of former Syracuse men’s lacrosse assistant coach Lelan Rogers and had been planning to play college lacrosse at Syracuse before eventually shifting his focus to football.
He began his career at Nebraska in 2018 before transferring to Oregon in 2022. He was listed by Oregon last year at 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds.
While Rogers didn’t put up overwhelming numbers (97 tackles and 3 sacks over the course of four seasons) he plays a position where accumulating stats is challenging. In his annual draft guide, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote that Rogers is a strong athlete at the defensive tackle spot.
He made 21 tackles (1 1/2 sacks) and forced a fumble for the Ducks last season.
Rogers played a year of prep school football at Avon (Connecticut) Old Farms before landing at Nebraska as a three-star recruit.
THOMPSON HEADED TO BROWNS
Former Cicero-North Syracuse football standout Lorenzo Thompson will sign with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent, according to Cleveland-based television reporter Camryn Justice.
Justice works for Cleveland’s local ABC affiliate. Players who sign as undrafted free agents have an uphill battle to make a team’s final roster.
Thompson played college football for the University of Rhode Island, blossoming into a First Team All-Colonial Athletic Association offensive tackle and a team captain this past season.
Former Cicero-North Syracuse coach Dave Kline said that Thompson was an excellent player for the Northstars during his high school career.
“He was a hard-working kid,” Kline said. “He played for us back in our beginning sectional runs. The way he changed his body-type upon entering college was unbelievable. He went from a lean 6-foot-7 kid to 6-foot-7 and 300 now. Seeing him progress and playing on TV has been truly amazing.”
Thompson earned a spot as part of Rhode Island’s Class of 2017 by showing a willingness to play physically and a long frame at C-NS. Kline said that major college football programs, including Syracuse, questioned whether he’d be able to add enough muscle mass to be successful at a higher level.
“He always had that nasty streak that you like an o-lineman to have,” Kline said. “Nothing bad but just a toughness. … You knew once he got to school he was going to put weight on and become a good college offensive lineman. I went up to SU, and some other schools, and tried to get them to take a chance. They weren’t sure he was going to get thick enough.”
Instead, Thompson headed to Rhode Island where he added weight and became a high-level FCS player. Rhode Island listed Thompson at 6-foot-7 and 295 pounds during his senior season.
Thompson started the final 37 games of his career with the Rams. The team has finished with a winning record the past three seasons, the first time it has accomplished that since the 1980s.
Thompson was a member of the CAA’s all-conference team the past two years, including a First Team honor this year. He was also picked as a Third Team All-American by Phil Steele.
During Thompson’s senior year of high school in 2017, Cicero-North Syracuse won the Class AA sectional title and advanced to the state semifinals. Over his final two years the North Stars went 20-2. He was named an All-State Second Team player during each of those seasons.
