It’s the big day! The NFL is tonight! Andre Cisco, Trill Williams, and Ifeatu Melifonwu are the big three from Syracuse football that will likely be selected this year, but who’s going to be off the board first?
All season long that answer was Cisco. Coming into this past season, the kid from Valley Stream, NY was touted as far and away the most talented of the trio. In his freshman season, he solidified himself as a bonafide ballhawk, snatching 7 interceptions, which tied him for most in the nation helping to lead that Orange defense in a season where Syracuse shocked everybody, amassing 10 wins, downing West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl. In his sophomore year he continued to turn heads, adding 5 more picks and 65 tackles to his name. Come this past season, it was a foregone conclusion that Cisco would be headed to the National Football League. Though after just 2 games, the worst happened. The junior suffered a torn ACL, and Coach Dino Babers announced on October 12th that he was out for the season.
While that obviously was what no one was rooting for, it left Williams and Melifonwu with plenty of opportunity to pick up the slack. That was true until about three weeks later when Williams made a similar announcement about the remainder of his season after SU had stumbled out of the gates five games into the year…
Iffy finished the year, starting all 10 games for the Orange and made himself look good. He looked even better at the Senior Bowl in January.
The Massachusetts native impressed scouts with his ability to lock down receivers 1-on-1:
That’s the big reason his draft stock has risen to what it is and why some are saying he could eek into the first round. We know all three are talented, but as of right now it looks like this:
Melifonwu: Rounds 1-2
Cisco: Rounds 3-4
Williams: Rounds 5-6
So get excited, you have something to root for tonight! Ifeatu Melifonwu very well may be taken in the first round.
