Our comprehensive 2025 Syracuse football preview

The Juice Online's annual football preview features position-by-position analysis, game-by-game previews, and season predictions from experts.

Jul 23, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Syracuse Head Coach Fran Brown answers questions from the media during ACC Media days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The skill position talent drain sets the stage for the 2025 season, as the Orange have to start almost from scratch when it comes to established talent. 

A look at the Syracuse offense

Fran Brown brought in two quarterbacks through the transfer portal who were four-star prospects coming out of high school, Rickie Collins (LSU) and Steve Angeli (Notre Dame), with the latter being named the starter less than two weeks before the season opener and less than four months after he joined the team.

Read The Juice Online's in-depth quarterback preview

Angeli will be operating with running backs and receivers who have very little on their collegiate resumes. Yasin Willis and Will Nixon totaled 55 carries and a dozen receptions last season, although Nixon has more experience over his career.  

Read The Juice Online's in-depth running backs preview

Darrell Gill Jr. and Umari Hatcher have 90 combined receptions in a total of five seasons of play while Justus Ross-Simmons has a pair of productive seasons at Colorado State under his belt. They will have some help through the transfer portal and the development of younger players. Wide receiver Johntay Cook (Texas, Washington) is looked at as in instant contributor in the passing game.  

Read The Juice Online's in-depth wide receivers preview

The offensive line also is getting a significant influx of talent from the portal, as Austin Collins (Louisville), T.J. Ferguson (Florida State), Kam Pringle (South Carolina), Zach Rice (North Carolina) all joined the program and multiple players from that group are expected to earn starting spots.

Read The Juice Online's in-depth offensive line preview

A look at the Syracuse defense and special teams

The defensive side of the ball lost a lot of productive players, as well.  

Duce Chestnut and Devin Grant will lead the backfield as returnees. Former four-star prospect cornerback Chris Peal comes to the Orange from Georgia, keeping Fran Brown’s pipeline to his former job open.

Read The Juice Online's in-depth defensive backs preview

Derek McDonald has plenty of experience at linebacker. Linebacker Gary Bryant III (South Dakota) was an FCS All-American and a tackling machine.  

Read The Juice Online's in-depth linebackers preview

Defensive end David Reese (California) and defensive tackle George Rooks (Boston College) came from ACC rivals to Syracuse.  

Read The Juice Online's in-depth defensive line preview

Meanwhile, special teams had its fair share of struggles in 2024, especially in the kicking game. But adding transfer Tripp Woody as a kicker and returning one of the top punters in the ACC, Jack Stonehouse, should help.

Read The Juice Online's in-depth special teams preview

Syracuse's schedule is among the hardest in the country

The schedule offers few breaks to the Orange, as it features five of the top six teams in that conference preseason media poll.  The slate also features two non-conference opponents in the preseason top 25, as it opens with SU traveling to Atlanta for what is a neutral-site game in name only against SEC opponent Tennessee and a late November trip to Notre Dame.

• Tennesse Preview

• UConn Preview

• Colgate Preview

• Clemson Preview

• Duke Preview

• SMU Preview

• Pitt Preview

• Georgia Tech Preview

• North Carolina Preview

• Miami Preview

• Notre Dame Preview

• Boston College Preview

It is not known, of course, how much help all these new names will provide, but expectations are lower for the Orange than for most teams coming off a ten-win season. 

The ACC preseason media poll results slotted SU at the tail end of a cluster of teams in the 8th-to-12th range with a sharp dropoff to Boston College in 13th place. Syracuse also had a unique position in the national polls before the season starts, collecting 16 points in the coaches’ poll and none in the AP poll.

• ESPN's Andrea Adelson predicts bowl game for Syracuse

• The Juice Online's Jim Stechschulte predicts a 5-7 finish

Young, inexperienced team? Tough schedule? In short, it looks like an uphill climb for the Orange in 2025.

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