A Colorado judge's decision changes the roster complexion for 2026 Syracuse football

There was a familiar face at Syracuse football's preseason practice session Tuesday at the Lally Athletics complex, wearing an unfamiliar jersey number.

Trotting out to join his new, yet in many cases, old teammates, wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons sported jersey No. 86 in his heralded return to the program after wearing No. 12 in 2024 and '25.

It culminates a summer for Ross-Simmons in which playing collegiately remained in doubt until a July 31 court decision in Colorado granted players from the Class of 2022-23 seeking a fifth year to play, a fifth year to play in 2026-27.

Fran Brown and the players have welcomed back a player of JRS's caliber for a bonus season

Even after declaring in his first preseason press conference on August 4 that he was not in the add-to--the-roster mode with a team that had been building and bonding for eight months, there is not a coach anywhere that will not take the opportunity to better his chances of winning.

While the Colorado court decision (and several others) caused the NCAA chaos after it passed in June the new "5-in-5" eligibility model to allow (with few exceptions) an athlete five years to complete participation in five seasons of college sports, Brown can only concern himself with how the ruling affects the potential of his team.

Quite simply, despite missing eight of 12 teams last season, Syracuse is a better football team with a fifth-year player who caught 20 passes for five TDs last season, many from Steve Angeli, and automatically becomes the top veteran receiver on the roster with his significant college stats during his career at Colorado State and SU.

The commotion caused by the Colorado ruling is still to be sorted out

At stake heading into the start of the football season is the instant eligibility issue for hundreds of college athletes in both major revenue sports, including incoming Syracuse basketball forward Amarri Monroe who has promoted his transfer from Quinnipiac, from still does not appear on the official Orange roster.

Until then at the Lally complex, Ross-Simmons is wowing his teammates, catching balls from Angeli who lobbied hard to get a familiar and trusted face back in his offensive huddle and brining needed depth to the position.

With sophomore Darius "Boobie" Johnson expected to miss five weeks after suffering a leg injury last week, and fellow soph Terrell Wilfong out at least as long after a collarbone injury announced this week, Ross-Simmons helps bolster a unit that needs reliability and consistency.

The only other roster wide receiver that has any substantial 2025 statistics is senior Tyshawn Russell who himself missed the final nine games last season after making nine catches in the first three games.

The rest of the unit is a blend of veterans in sixth year returnee Umari Hatcher, transfers such as Matt Outten (Penn State) and Cole Weaver (Miami-Ohio), along with returnees Darian Johnson, andstill to be determined both injured Calvin Russell III (expected back in-season) and two-way player Demetres Samuel Jr. (expected to see more significant playing time on offense).

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