Recruiting never stops. Even after both national signing days have now come and gone, Syracuse football is still on the hunt for players to improve the squad for the upcoming season. This time it’s in the grad-transfer market with South Alabama offensive tackle Ryan Alexander.
The Orange have been after Alexander for quite a while now and he just recently told Syracuse.com that he plans to visit the campus from March 21st to the 23rd.
The 6-3, 300-pound left tackle would fill perhaps SU’s biggest area of need right now: the tackle position. Both tackles from last year, Cody Conway and Koda Martin, have now graduated and left the program. Martin, like Alexander would be, was a one-year rental from the grad-transfer market.
Alexander was under recruited out of high school, but has turned heads since transferring from a high school tight end to four year left tackle starter at South Alabama. Rutgers, Florida State, Penn State, Texas and Arizona have all expressed interest in the grad-transfer.
Rutgers has already offered and Alexander visited them first. He also plans to visit Arizona right after Syracuse on March 27th-29th, according to Syracuse.com. A grad-transfer is allowed five official visits.
The good news for Syracuse is Alexander has some local ties to the area. He grew up a fan of SU during the Doug Marrone days and most of his family lives in the New York City area. So if he is looking to get closer to home, Syracuse is the best option for him.
There’s no doubt a lot to be excited about in the future with all the returning skill players for Syracuse and additions of Abdul Adams and others. However, perhaps the biggest reason Syracuse went from 4-8 to 10-3 last year was because the offensive line dramatically improved. That’s the area that needs to be shored up right now. Alexander could come in and start right away and change the ceiling of next year’s team.
