You can’t peruse the Syracuse football record book without seeing a healthy dose of our 67th best Orange athlete of all-time. 
Fresh out of the Greg Robinson dumpster fire, the Orange needed a reset. And boy did they get one thanks to quarterback Ryan Nassib. An aerial attack that would probably make your arm and mine fall off, Nassib synced up careers with Doug Marrone led to the winningest career of any Orange QB in the 21st century. 
Nassib’s career got off to a strange start. First year coach Marrone pegged Duke hoops transfer Greg Paulus as his starting QB, but still used Nassib in special packages.
Nassib far outperformed his recruiting ranking. He was slotted as just a 2-star QB, but he ended with a 5-star career. His name is littered through the Orange passing record book, including being the programs all-time leader in pass attempts and completions, plus he ended his career as the Orange’s yards leader before Eric Dungey surpassed him two years ago. He also owns the single-game record for most yards in a game in a 482 yard effort against Northwestern and ranks second all-time in career touchdowns behind Donovan McNabb. 
The exclamation point was Nassib’s senior year. He set Orange single-season records for passing yards (3,749), touchdowns (26), completions (284) and total offense (3,891) among other categories. Those figures led him to become the All-Big East Second Team QB, only behind Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, in what was the final season of football in the conference. He also received an All-American nod from Pro Football Weekly.
As you can see, the numbers are gaudy and he has the wins to back it up. A rare combination in recent Orange history. The QB also helped put two bowl trophies on display with wins over Kansas State and West Virginia, both of which were (you guessed it) Pinstripe Bowls. 
His success at Syracuse made him one of just three Orange QBs to be selected in the NFL Draft, joining Donovan McNabb and Don McPherson in that fraternity. Nassib was taken in the 4th round by the Giants in 2013. 
Nassib hasn’t been on an NFL roster since 2017, but that doesn’t take away from the stellar career he put up at SU. He’s one of the most distinguished signal callers the Orange has ever had, which is why he slots inside our top 70 of the greatest Orange athletes of all-time. 
Stay tuned for the rest of our SU Top 100 list!
