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via Syracuse.com
Rivals.com ranks Syracuse’s current crop of 2015 recruits as the ninth best class out of the 14 teams in the ACC. Just a month ago, it looked like the Orange was falling behind in the recruiting game because SU coaches had yet to secure a single verbal commitment. Now, after landing three verbals last week, the Orange now has seven verbal commitments in total.
Seven is a strong number for mid May, but a lot of these players were not too highly recruited by other programs. So that begs the question: how do these seven players stack up against the other recruiting classes in the ACC?
Rivals uses a formula based on both the number of recruits a team has and the quality of those players. That is why a team like Virginia Tech is ranked sixth on the Rivals chart despite having just four verbal commitments. The Hokies’ four recruits are deemed to be better players than SU’s seven. The average star rating of the four Virginia Tech commits is three compared to an average 2.2 rating for SU’s commits. A 2.2 average rating is the lowest in the ACC. It’s the lowest of any team that plays in one of the major football conferences.
That rating is scary, but it’s just another number. It is so difficult for writers to evaluate talent all across the country. The fact that a lot of Syracuse’s recruits were not listed on major recruiting websites at the time of their commitments means little. Scott Shafer and his staff’s judgment must be trusted. Most of SU’s recruits did not have extensive Division I offers, but if these players were not ACC-caliber they would not have received offers from Syracuse. On paper the Orange will have another middle tier recruiting class, but that does not mean these players have no potential.
Obviously Syracuse cannot lure the top-level talent but it is definitely encouraging that Shafer and company have already found seven players that fit the Syracuse mold. Regardless of their current rankings these are the players that will work to transition SU into an ACC powerhouse.
Posted by: Connor Morrissette 
