When the leaves blaze orange upstate, there’s an electricity that sweeps through the Dome unlike anything else. The Syracuse Orange are gearing up for perhaps their most anticipated college football season of the last two decades. Fran Brown’s debut year culminated by picking up just its third ten-win season since the turn of the millennium, prompting online betting sites to sit up and take notice.
Despite their historic 52-35 Holiday Bowl victory over Washington State, the popular Bovada site still makes the Orange an outsider next term. They are currently priced as a mighty +8000 to win the ACC next season, well behind the +110 favorite Clemson. That provides plenty of value to Orange Nation faithful who have hopes that a memorable campaign is just around the corner. To those thinking that the unthinkable could happen, namely a first Natty in 66 years, then you can find that priced at a whopping +65000.
But it isn’t just the program that has a blockbuster season just around the corner. A number of the school’s alumni also have a massive few months ahead of them in the NFL. But who are they, and what could their 2025 season entail? Let’s take a look.
Matthew Bergeron
Stability, in football, is often the rarest currency of all. Matthew Bergeron possesses it in spades, and right now, the Falcons are banking their future on his broad shoulders. Since he arrived in 2023 as the 38th overall pick, the 25-year-old has been Atlanta’s ironman—34 consecutive starts, every snap played like it’s his last. That’s not just an impressive streak; that’s the lifeblood of a line tasked with resurrecting a franchise dogged by inconsistency and fan impatience.
Bergeron’s Syracuse pedigree prepared him for this. Anchoring the Orange line, he combined raw power with sophisticated footwork, earning all-league honors and drawing rave reviews from scouts for both technique and tenacity. In Atlanta, those same attributes have set the bar in a room crowded with question marks.
Last season, the Falcons crashed out of playoff contention despite a huge investment in gun slinger quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Georgia-based outfit slipped from 6-3 in week nine to a shocking 8-9 by the season’s end, with back-to-back overtime defeats in the final two weeks of the campaign seeing them miss the postseason entirely. Bergeron, however, was undaunted.
The run game surged in his wake, and he gave up just a single sack over the final nine games. That’s not just good—that’s franchise cornerstone material. Now, with question marks surrounding Cousins and the tantalizing potential of Michael Penix Jr. waiting in the wings, the heat is on.
For Atlanta, 2025 isn’t about rebuilding anymore. It’s about results. Bergeron’s ability to open daylight for the ground game and give his quarterback breathing room may single-handedly swing the Falcons’ campaign. The question isn’t whether he’ll deliver, but whether the team around him can rise to meet his standard.
Andre Cisco
They say the NFL values ballhawks like gold, and Andre Cisco—at his best—looks minted for the modern game. At Syracuse, he was a turnover machine: 13 interceptions in 24 games, instincts sharper than a two-minute drill, and a game-breaking flair that made him must-see TV. But upon entering the NFL with Jacksonville, he drove on a winding road flanked by playmaking highs and mental errors.
Stats tell the tale. Over four seasons with the Jaguars: 63 games played, eight picks, three forced fumbles, and an up-and-down 2024 plagued by blown coverages and injury setbacks. At a crossroads, Cisco has chosen the road less traveled: a high-stakes reset with the Jets. The fit is no accident.
The Jets are desperate to shed the ghosts of the failed Aaron Rodgers experiment, and under first-year head coach Aaron Glenn, youth is the new rallying cry. Cisco, newly inked to a $10 million deal, now carries the hopes—and skepticism—of a fan base desperate for a difference-maker. While it’s the addition of Justin Fields and the contract extensions of Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner that have garnered the headlines, the former Syracuse standout has been allowed to fly under the radar.
But here’s where narrative meets opportunity. Cisco’s metrics in coverage, especially when aligned next to elite corner Gardner, show flashes of brilliance. The big plays are there; the challenge is consistency. With reports suggesting that Glenn is making the safety group a point of emphasis, and a defense built to attack, Cisco could be the lynchpin. If he can combine his raw range with the discipline demanded of NFL safeties, he doesn’t just revive his reputation—he becomes the engine of a resurgent Jets defense.
Zaire Franklin
Not all NFL journeys begin with hype and confetti. Zaire Franklin began as a seventh-round pick, armed mostly with skepticism and perseverance learned at Syracuse, where he led the Orange in tackles and earned team captaincy. In Indianapolis, Franklin was little more than a depth piece—until he wasn’t.
Fast forward to the present: Franklin was the Colts’ heartbeat and a league leader by almost every advanced metric in 2024. His 170 tackles—second-most in the NFL—underscored not just volume but intensity, as he routinely set the tone and delivered pivotal stops in must-win situations. He didn’t just survive seven seasons; he mastered them, culminating in a 2024 campaign where his leadership became the Colts’ glue on and off the field.
Yet, accolades mean little without results. Indianapolis, stung by offensive inconsistency and a revolving door at quarterback, once again fell agonizingly short of the playoffs, extending a drought now at five years. The new season brings a sense of urgency.
With Shane Steichen at the helm and Anthony Richardson now in full command of the offense, the opportunity is clear: the defense must be the springboard. Franklin’s role? Direct the traffic, diagnose the play, make the hit. And more—mentor the next generation, demand accountability, and rid the franchise of that “almost there” stench.
