When Head Coach Fran Brown and the Orange staff flipped Samuel from the Florida Gators, a four-star defensive back who also played wide receiver in high school, his elite offensive highlights began to go viral on Syracuse fans’ social media feeds.
Two-way players are rare in college football, but has increased in recent years with the freakish athletic talent that factory high schools continue to graduate to the college ranks. Travis Hunter, the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to the Jaguars, won the Heisman Trophy after playing wide receiver and cornerback at both Jackson State and Colorado. He plans on continuing this route in some fashion in the NFL this fall. In a somewhat more common route, current Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman was the everyday kick and punt returner for both Michigan State and Florida State in addition to his position as the top wide receiver on both teams. Current New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers took snaps at running back, kick and punt returner, at Michigan to compliment his full time safety role as Jim Harbaugh looked to push Peppers towards a stronger Heisman Trophy resume.
Samuel, just 17 years old, has full backing from the coaching staff to achieve this two-way goal: “Coach Fran (Brown) tells me to be myself, and let my game play.” Samuel later added during his media availability that the expectation every day of fall camp is that Samuel is drained from the practices on both wide receiver and defensive back; The Orange staff are looking to use Samuel’s athletic ability and length in any scenario that can help the team. In this new era of college football, teams have to get everyday impact from their freshman: Those who are asked to redshirt simply transfer, especially the four and five star players.
The ability to successfully play both sides of the ball doesn’t just come overnight, it requires an extra layer of physical and mental intensity and playbook recognition on top of the already being an every-down starter on one side. However, even though it might take an adjustment period, Syracuse fans should feel excited that both Samuel and the coaching staff get a “trial period” of how the two-way method would work during fall camp. Some college football analysts predict that Samuel will play a “Swiss army knife” role for the Orange in 2025; His athletic talent will translate well to trick plays and gadget packages that could altogether confuse a defense and give the actual first team offense another advantage. Samuel could look to go after the Paul Hornung Award, celebrating versatility, and following Travis Hunters’ two year reign. While he wasn’t added to the preseason watch list, his versatility plays in Syracuse’s multiple primetime matchups could make him an in-season candidate for the award.
Wherever Samuel ends up playing this fall, he will certainly create eye-popping highlights. While college football fans would love an encore of what they saw last year in Colorado, Fran Brown understands that it is important to play them in the right positions to succeed; It would be a nightmare to lose his brilliance at defensive back because of what they’re trying to achieve in other positions. There’s been strong reports from fall camp, but regular season football against other opponents is a whole other animal.
