Syracuse football: Our All-21st Century Team

Camping World Bowl - West Virginia v Syracuse — Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The best of the 2000s after 25 years

This will not just be a look back at history. It’ll be an interesting study of comparison.

As we’re a little over 25 years through the 21st century, TNIAAM is going through our All-21st century teams for each Syracuse Orange varsity sport. We now come to football.

Why is this an interesting sport for our purposes? Well, Steve, John and Kevin produced their own All-21st century football team about five-and-a-half years ago. Dominic Chiappone and I (Christian De Guzman) are creating our own All-21st century football team now, and quite a bit has happened in Syracuse football history since TNIAAM’s last list.

While making our teams, Dom and I also had our own opinions on which players should be placed in which teams. So our list not only looks a little different with regards to modern players, but also from the perspective of a “younger” generation (Sorry Steve, John and Kevin).

With that in mind, here’s our list for our Syracuse football All-21st Century First Team, Second Team and honorable mentions.

Syracuse Football All-21st Century 1st Team

Quarterback: Eric Dungey
Running Back: Sean Tucker, Walter Reyes
Wide Receiver: Steve Ishmael, Alec Lemon
Tight End: Oronde Gadsden
Offensive Line: Matthew Bergeron, Justin Pugh, Andrew Tiller, Matt Tarullo, Nick Romeo
Defensive Tackle: Arthur Jones, Jay Bromley
Defensive End: Dwight Freeney, Chandler Jones
Linebacker: Zaire Franklin, Marlowe Wax, Mikel Jones
Cornerback: Garrett Williams, Ifeatu Melinfonwu
Safety: Andre Cisco, Diamond Ferri
Kicker: Andre Szmyt
Punter: Riley Dixon
Returner: Sean Riley

Syracuse Football All-21st Century 2nd Team

Quarterback: Kyle McCord
Running Back: LeQuint Allen, Delone Carter
Wide Receiver: Amba Etta-Tawo, Erv Philips
Tight End: Nick Provo
Offensive Line: Adam Terry, Sean Hickey, Ryan Bartholomew, Ryan Durand, Macky MacPherson
Defensive Tackle: Chris Slayton, Christian Ferrara
Defensive End: Alton Robinson, Jameel McClain
Linebacker: Marquis Spruill, Derrell Smith, Cameron Lynch
Cornerback: Will Allen, Mike Holmes
Safety: Shamarko Thomas, Anthony Smith
Kicker: Patrick Shadle
Punter: Sterling Hofrichter
Returner: Trebor Pena

Syracuse Football All-21st Century Honorable Mentions

Quarterback: Ryan Nassib
Running Back: James Mungro, Damien Rhodes, Jerome Smith
Wide Receiver: Jackson Meeks, Trishton Jackson, Mike Williams
Tight End: Beckett Wales
Offensive Line: Quinn Ojinnaka, Koda Martin, Rob Trudo, Zach Chibane, Jim McKenzie
Defensive Tackle: Josh Black
Defensive End: Ron Thompson, Louis Gachelin, James Wyche
Linebacker: Kelvin Smith, Doug Hogue, Parris Bennett
Cornerback: Steve Gregory, Tanard Jackson
Safety: Justin Barron
Kicker: Ross Krautman, Cole Murphy
Punter: Jack Stonehouse
Returner: Brisly Estime

Offense (Christian)

Quarterback was a contentious discussion, and at the last minute we’ve switched around a couple of positions. In the end, Eric Dungey’s raw stats in his entire career tower over the quarterbacks. Not only is he the Syracuse career leader in passing yards (9,340), he’s also tied for second in career rushing TDs with Floyd Little (35). His total yards lead the way for the Orange with 11,333 career yards. Donovan McNabb in second place is 1,383 yards behind Dungey.

However, if Kyle McCord played more of his career with the Orange, there’s a good chance he could’ve been the First Team selection. The amount of single-season passing records he set is ridiculous, highlighted by the ACC single-season passing record (4,779). Ryan Nassib’s winning consistency put up a good fight, but the raw stats of the other two quarterbacks just edged him out.

Running back sees a modern addition vault to the top of the list. When you break the single-season rushing yards record and draw calls for 44 to be brought back to the program, you probably deserve a spot on the 1st team. That’s where Sean Tucker falls with 3,182 career rush yards (3rd all-time) and that single-season rushing yards record with 1,496 yards in 2021. Multiple All-American and All-ACC awards make Tucker the clear-cut RB1. Walter Reyes also retains his spot among the First Team running backs with 3,424 career rushing yards (2nd all-time) and the all time single-season (20 in 2003) and career (45) rushing touchdowns record.

Second Team running back caused a good bit of discussion between Dom and I. This is where we see the first deviation from Steve, John and Kevin. LeQuint Allen’s all-purpose yards and two years of All-ACC production make him a modern addition to the second team. We decided to give Delone Carter the bump over other talented players like James Mungro, Damien Rhodes and Jerome Smith. Carter is the only other member of the 3,000 career rushing yards club in the 21st century.

Wide receiver at the top turned out pretty easy. Steve Ishmael holds many records for the Orange, the most notable being career receiving yards (2,891). Alec Lemon is not far behind Ishmael in career receiving yards (2,596). Only Marvin Harrison splits the two on the career receiving yards list. The duo are also tied for fourth on the career receiving TDs list (18).

For all of the recent great one-season wide receivers, Amba Etta-Tawo still reigns supreme. He still holds the top marks for single-season receiving yards (1,482) and is tied for the top spot for single-season TDs (14). Erv Philips, his all-purpose yards and his overall utility claimed the second wide receiver spot on the second team. He leads Syracuse in career receptions (223) in addition to the third and fourth best seasons in receptions (90 in 2016, 89 in 2017). Don’t forget his 522 rushing yards as well.

Mike Williams just missed out on the list, but his stats are still very impressive. He’s tied for second on the career receiving TDs (20) list with Marvin Harrison. If he stayed healthy, Williams probably would be higher up on the list. Trishton Jackson and Jackson Meeks were also in the running for their excellent single seasons in Orange.

Tight end is also very straight forward. Oronde Gadsden holds Syracuse records for career receptions (141) and receiving yards (1,970) when he was at tight end. Two first-team All-ACC nods and a third-team All-American nod by the AP lock up Gadsden for the top tight end spot. Nick Provo is the clear second team tight end with his receptions (92) sitting just behind Gadsden and the only other 21st-century tight end with over 1,000 career receiving yards. Beckett Wales earns an honorable mention for his receptions (52) and career yards (523).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 22 Syracuse at Clemson

For the trenches, we defer to Steve’s judgement as the resident offensive line expert. The only notable addition to the room is Matthew Bergeron to the first team, as one of the best recent tackles in Syracuse history. He was taken in the second round of the NFL draft and has started every game in the pros with Atlanta. Justin Pugh joins him at tackle after his career led him to the first round of the draft. Two First Team All-Big East selections in Andrew Tiller and Matt Tarullo joins our first team at guard. Nick Romeo retains his spot as the first-choice center as a four-year starter. He started over 40 consecutive games for Syracuse.

It’s tough to move Adam Terry down to the second team after his great career with the Orange. He was also a second round draft pick. As Syracuse transitioned to the ACC, one of the standouts on the offensive line was Sean Hickey at tackle, starting 38 straight games. Ryan Durand was one of the bright spots for Syracuse during the Greg Robinson Era, starting for three years. As a seventh round pick, he takes one of the second team guard spots alongside Ryan Bartholomew, who was a two-time All-Big East selection. Macky MacPherson was one of the other offensive line stars that shone for the Orange as the program moved to ACC, starting for three years.

The wrestling fans know Quinn Ojinnaka as “Moose” right now with TNA. Before that, he was a two-year starter for Syracuse. Koda Martin was one of the first one-year wonders for the Orange right before the start of the transfer portal era. He helped anchor the offensive line of the 2018 10-win season. Rob Trudo barely missed out on a spot on our teams, bouncing around between the starting guards and center spot for four years. Zach Chibane can say the same thing for three seasons. Jim McKenzie also gets an honorable mention nod for his Freshman All-Big East season in 2007.

Defense (Dom)

Moving over to the defense, the linebacker spot proved to be the toughest on the board to decide for this side of the ball. From recent contributors like Marlowe Wax and Mikel Jones to players from earlier in the decade like Marquis Spruill and Parris Bennett, there was plenty to sort out.

NCAA Football: Central Michigan at Syracuse

When the dust settled, Zaire Franklin (48 games in four years, 36 starts, three-time captain, x2 All-ACC, 311 tackles, 32 TFLs and 8.5 sacks) was the easy pick for the first spot. For the last two 1st Team names, we went with Wax (338 tackles, 44 TFLs, 21 sacks, 10 forced fumbled, x2 All-ACC honorable mention and x1 All-ACC second team nod) and Jones (300 tackles, 24 TFLs, 9.5 sacks, Dick Butkus Award Semifinalist, x3 All-ACC). Again, it’s a case where two more recent stars had pretty successful tenures with the Orange since that initial All-21st Century football team from half a decade ago. All that said, there was just so much production by both to knock either guy to the 2nd Team.

Spruill was another major contributor with over 240 tackles and 12.5 sacks, getting the first 2nd Team spot. Derrell Smith had a slow start in his first two years but ended up exploding for two All-Big East 2nd team nods, 270 tackles and eight forced fumbled. Another tough call was who would get the last spot, opting to go with Cameron Lynch over Kelvin Smith, Doug Hogue and Bennett.

After some discussion, both defensive line and defensive end were fairly straight forward. Arthur Jones (145 tackles, 38.5 TFLs, x3 All-Big East selections) was an easy choice for 1st Team. Jay Bromley (121 tackles, 25.5 TFLs, 14 sacks) was functionally a full-time starter for three years and especially shined in 2013. For 2nd Team, two familiar faces made the cut in Chris Slayton (107 tackles, 32.5 TFLs, 9.5 sacks) and Christian Ferrara (139 tkls, 30 TFLs).

For 1st Team defensive end, Dwight Freeney and Chandler Jones were “no questions asked” selections. There were five other names up for two spots, with Alton Robinson (Three-year starter, x2 All-ACC, 115 tackles, 32.5 TFLs) and Jameel McClain (177 tackles, 21.5 TFLs, x1 All-Big Second Team) over Ron Thompson, Louis Gachelin and James Wyche.

Cornerback and safety were two other somewhat difficult discussions, mainly because there isn’t as much high-end candidates compared to, say, the linebackers. The 1st Team itself was easy to fill out, with Garrett Williams (x3 All-ACC, 152 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, two sacks and four interceptions) and Ifeatu Melifonwu (two-year starter, 88 tackles, 71 solo, 3 INT, 23 breakups, x1 All-ACC) being two of the easiest decisions to make for the All-21st Century Team.

Despite only one year of his career being eligible, Will Allen still made the cut at 2nd Team. He would have 19 pass breakups in one season alone and is the only DB in program history to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft this century. This next player will be filling in two roles for the All-21st Century Team, but special teams aside, Mike Holmes (274 tackles, 10 TFLs, 6 INTs) had too much production to be an honorable mention at cornerback. Steve Gregory and Tanard Jackson were worthy names in the conversation.

Last for the defense is safety. It was a similar story as cornerback, where another recent name in Andre Cisco (three-year starter, led the ACC interceptions each of his first two seasons) was a lock for 1st Team. Diamond Ferri (140 tackles, six INTs) was another shoo-in 1st Team selection. For the last spot, we chose to leave Justin Barron as an honorable mention and go with Anthony Smith (3rd in all-time tackles by a Syracuse DB, all-time leader in career blocked kicks, 3rd in Syracuse history in INTs) and Shamarko Thomas.

Specialists (Christian)

It’s hard to deny a Lou Groza Winner and an All-American from our top kicking spot. Andre Szmyt allowed Syracuse fans to breathe easy during his time in Central New York. It’s been hard to find reliable kicking for the Orange after his graduation. Patrick Shadle didn’t have many opportunities to kick for Syracuse. When he did, the ball usually split the uprights as he sits just being Szmyt in career field goal percentage (80%) for the Orange. Cole Murphy gets a honorable mention for ranking second on Syracuse’s career field goals list (59) while Ross Krautman also gets a honorable mention nod for the third best career field goal percentage (77.8%) behind Szmyt and Krautman.

#DixonForHeisman is one of the first online movements I remember in the Syracuse social media world. There’s a reason so many people flocked to Riley Dixon. He was incredibly effective as a punter and a fake play specialist. Sterling Hofrichter followed Dixon up brilliantly for Syracuse as a four-year starter at punter. Both made their way to the NFL, where Dixon still features. Jack Stonehouse could join them by the time he finishes up his Orange career.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 02 Boston College at Syracuse

Sean Riley holds Syracuse records for career kickoff returns (115) and career kickoff return yards (2,433). He’s also in the top ten in career punt punt returns (50) and career punt return yards (563). Trebor Pena just gets the nod over Brisly Estime for working double duty on returns for a bit longer. Pena ranked fourth in kick return average (27). Estime gets an honorable mention for leading the NCAA in average punt return yards (17.7) in 2016.

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Now it’s your turn. Who makes your Syracuse football All-21st century teams? Sound off in the comments below.