Not only did the bye week give SU football a chance to get some much needed rest but it also gave the Syracuse coaching staff an opportunity to hit the recruiting trail for a week. And that’s exactly what they did. Both defensive tackles coach Vinson Reynolds and defensive coordinator Brian Ward went on recruiting trips during the off week, according to Syracuse.com. Let’s breakdown who Ward and Reynolds were after and what these potential recruits could bring to the table.
Nick Fulwider
Let‚Äôs start out with the reason for Reynolds trip to Georgia this past week. Fulwider is a 3 star defensive linemen that already has an abundance of offers to his name. After offering Pennsylvania defensive linemen Christian Barmore earlier in the week, Reynolds and SU became the latest to offer Fulwider this past Thursday, according to 247sports. And it‚Äôs easy to see why the Orange made that decision. The 2018 Tyrone, GA product stands 6‚Äô7, which is two inches taller than any defensive linemen on the current SU roster. But, just because he‚Äôs abnormally tall for the position doesn‚Äôt mean he‚Äôs lacking strength. At 250 pounds, Reynolds spends most of his Friday nights straight bull rushing Georgia high school guards. Just check out his highlight reel for yourself if you don‚Äôt believe me. Whether he will be bull rushing guards in the Carrier Dome someday remains to be seen. But he would have to pass up a slew of SEC offers for that to be a possibility. Tennessee, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Vanderbilt and South Carolina have all already offered the Georgia product. SU has persuaded Georgia defensive linemen to head up north to the 315 before. Current Orange pass rushers Brandon Berry, Kayton Samuels, Justin Ellis and Ryan Guthrie are all from the state of Georgia. However, Fulwider is on another level. 247sports.com ranks the Sandy Creek defensive end as the 35th best edge rusher in his class.¬† If SU were to grab a commitment from Fulwider it would make a strong recruiting class a great one. Three years ago, Syracuse would‚Äôve had no chance to out duel SEC powers like Tennessee and Arkansas. However, with Babers at the helm, sending Reynolds to Georgia during a bye week doesn‚Äôt seem like a fool’s errand at all. According to Syracuse.com, Fulwider has planned a visit to the SU campus for sometime in November and that alone is a promising sign for the state of SU football recruiting going forward.
Andre Cisco
The second recruit SU offered this weekend was Long Island defensive back Andre Cisco. Cisco told Syracuse.com that Ward offered him after watching him at a practice last week. Ward was in Bradenton, FL at IMG Academy, the prep-school that Cisco transferred to two years ago. IMG Academy might sound familiar and that’s because SU has recruited several athletes from there recently. The Orange was courting IMG point guard Eric Ayala before he committed to Maryland a couple weeks ago. As for the football side of things, SU freshman wideout K.K. Hahn graduated from IMG and the Orange has already picked up a commitment from IMG’s senior linebacker Juan Wallace. Cisco is not as highly touted as Fulwider but he still already has some solid offers from Power-5 schools like Vanderbilt, Illinois and Nebraska. With four star commits like Tyrone Sampson and Qadir White, SU’s 2018 recruiting class already looks really good. However, you have to think a solid secondary piece is the next thing on Babers wishlist. Given Cisco’s ties to the New York area, he may be the guy that fills that void for the Orange.
