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Duce Chestnut Ranked as Top True Freshman Cover Corner by PFF

The Syracuse cornerback has had a strong start to his Orange career.
Mike McAllister|
Duce Chestnut Ranked as Top True Freshman Cover Corner by PFF
Duce Chestnut Ranked as Top True Freshman Cover Corner by PFF

Syracuse freshman cornerback Duce Chestnut has been nothing short of spectacular during his first five games as a college football player. Through five games, Chestnut has 22 tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups. Pro Football Focus, which grades based on next level analytics for every position including specific traits at each position, has ranked Chestnut as the top true freshman cover cornerback in the nation through the first five games of the 2021 season. 

The ranking is not an overall grade for corners, but strictly the grade in coverage for those with at least 100 coverage snaps so far this season. 

Behind Chestnut and rounding out the top five are Billy Bowman of Oklahoma, Jadon Canady of Tulane, Denzel Burke of Ohio State and Noah Avinger of San Diego State. Bowman was included in the SI99 of the 2021 recruiting class as one of the best 99 prospects in the country. 

Chestnut had a phenomenal interception in Saturday's game against Florida State in which he jumped a wide receiver screen and made a diving catch despite his elbows crashing into the ground with the ball in his hands. 

"The instincts were right on," head coach Dino Babers said after the game. "When you make a play like that, you have to go for it. He went for it and then the catch he made was no joke because he caught the ball and the first thing to hit the ground, unless I'm wrong, were his elbows. As a wide receiver, when you catch the ball like that your elbows will jar the ball free. 

"But he stayed locked on. He had so much confidence that he stayed locked on, jumped up and then let it go. Where it was like 'there's no way you guys aren't calling this an interception.' He just took off running away. A lot of confidence. A lot of moxie. I'm telling you, the catch was a lot harder than what you guys think it was. And he made it look easy." 

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Mike McAllister
MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting.  EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans.  After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years.  Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports.  Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College. 

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