Three Syracuse Football Players Named Freshmen All-Americans

Syracuse rookies earned some high praise with their performance this season.

Mike McAllister|

Three Syracuse Football Players Named Freshmen All-Americans

Three Syracuse football players have been named Freshmen All-Americans by various media outlets. Linebacker Stefon Thompson, the first Orange true freshman linebacker to earn the starting spot out of training camp in 10 years (Dyshawn Davis), was named an All-American by the Football Writers Association of America on Monday. Prior to that, safety Ja'Had Carter was named an All-American by Rivals while cornerback Garrett Williams was honored as an All-American by The Athletic.

More on each player:

LINEBACKER STEFON THOMPSON

Tackles: 35

Tackles for Loss: 7.5

Sacks: 3.0

Forced Fumbles: 1

SAFETY JA'HAD CARTER

Tackles: 67

Tackles for Loss: 3.0

Forced Fumbles: 1

Fumble Recoveries: 1

Interceptions: 2

Pass Breakups: 3

CORNERBACK GARRETT WILLIAMS

Tackles: 54

Tackles for Loss: 3.0

Sacks: 1.0

Interceptions: 2

Pass Breakups: 10

One silver lining of the 1-10 2020 season was the amount of freshmen that received significant playing time. Syracuse spent much of the season significantly short handed as injuries ravaged the roster. During several games, Syracuse had fewer than 60 scholarship players available. The silver lining to that was the experience gained by freshmen forced into action.

In some games, Syracuse was starting as many as six freshmen on defense. That experience should help in 2021 with offseason development and participating in the strength and conditioning program. A season of spring ball will also help with their development.

The Syracuse defense took major strides during the 2020 campaign, thanks in large part to the contributions of freshmen such as those three noted above. Others who made an impact include safety Robert Hanna and linebacker Marlowe Wax.

Published Jan 19, 2021

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.

Follow McAllisterMike1