This past weekend on FizzRadio, CuseNation.com’s Mike McAllister said that he would not be surprised if the Orange received a commitment from a second 2015 tight end on National Signing Day in February.
‚ÄúWhen [Syracuse] landed tight end West Lindor as part of this [2015] class there was a tight end prospect named Alex Parkinson that many people thought was going to be the guy that Syracuse landed,” McAllister said. “Because of the numbers game [Parkinson] wasn‚Äôt a guy that most people thought Syracuse would continue to recruit. They‚Äôve recently gotten back in touch with him; I‚Äôm going to say prediction wise that they end up landing him.‚Äù
So how come SU is once again reaching out to the tight end?
First of all he has tremendous size. Parkinson stands at 6’5 and weighs 210 pounds. In addition to football, he also plays basketball at Mamaroneck High School (NY).
Parkinson is a major red zone threat as well. He only averages three catches a game for Mamaroneck but through seven games this season the big man has five touchdown catches. According to McAllister, SU is mainly recruiting Parkinson because of his blocking ability, but the tight end’s red zone production has surely impressed the Syracuse coaches.
A down side to Parkinson’s game is that he has missed some serious time in high school due to injuries. He sat out the majority of his junior year and has missed a game in 2014 because he was banged up. As a result of this, his tape is mainly from his sophomore season at Mamaroneck (he also has mid-season senior highlights on his page however).
According to his twitter (@Alpa115), Parkinson visited Syracuse in May and the Orange appeared to be his first offer. Since then he has received other notable offers from Rutgers and Princeton (where he has visited too), as well as UConn and Pitt. His twitter account provides no leads as to which school he is leaning towards, but SU is firmly in the hunt.
Posted:  Connor Morrissette
