Popular college football magazine Athlon Sports recently released its list ranking the ACC’s starting quarterbacks from 1 to 14. The conference is loaded with intriguing talent behind center and is deep. Syracuse fans’ first inclination may have been to open this article and immediately scroll down to 14 to see the name in 12 pt. Times New Roman Font ‘Garrett Shrader.’
Well that’s not the case, but there isn’t much of a consolation in being ranked 11 instead of 14 because after the 5 slot, the rankings are pretty interchangeable. Here’s a look at the list:
1. Sam Hartman – Wake Forest
2. Devin Leary РNC State 
3. Brennan Armstrong РVirginia 
4. Tyler Van Dyke РMiami 
5. Malik Cunningham РLouisville 
6. Jordan Travis РFlorida State 
7. Phil Jurkovec РBoston College 
8. Kedon Slovis РPittsburgh 
9. D.J. Uiagalelei РClemson 
10. Drake Maye РNorth Carolina 
11. Garrett Shrader – Syracuse
12. Jeff Sims – Georgia Tech
13. Grant Wells – Virginia Tech
14. Riley Leonard – Duke
Eyeballing this list you may have gathered that Syracuse is set to see 8 of the top 10 signal callers on this list, yikes. To be behind the top 5 here is nothing to be upset about. Each of the top third or so quarterbacks has a future in professional football. Honestly, there’s an argument to be made for Shrader being in the top 10. UNC’s Drake Maye is was a national recruit last year, but has played sparingly at the collegiate level. That ranking is purely based on projection and not production.
Here’s what Athlon had to say regarding Shrader:
‚ÄúShrader took over the starting job in Week 4 last season and went on to be one of the most productive running signal-callers in the nation. He racked up 781 yards on the ground as well as 14 touchdowns ‚Äî both good for second in school history among quarterbacks. Shrader’s combination of power and shiftiness proved to be a natural complement to All-American running back Sean Tucker. In the passing game, though, he completed 52.6% of his passes for 1,444 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.‚Äù
The Mississippi State transfer has nothing left to prove as a runner. Now the former four-star needs to show why he was a blue chip dual-threat recruit. Perhaps playing in a new, innovative system under veteran offensive coordinator Robert Anae will help. If Shrader can boost his numbers through the air and become a top 10 ACC tosser, Syracuse has a great shot to exceed expectations in 2022. 
