Syracuse-Han past 15 months since Kyle McCord transferred from the state of Ohio, and at that time he has gone from spending the idea at the moment in Columbus the most important player in the season of 10 victories of Syracuse under the chief coach of the first year, Fran Brown.
On Monday, Orange celebrated its professional day and McCord, who established the ACC pass record with 4,779 yards last season (to go along with 34 TouchDowns), he collected just where he left him in the fall. His releases were clear, precise already launched in advance. And although each quartback written can make “each NFL launch”, McCord shines on intermediate routes, when you can place the ball in a small window, and also has the touch for layers constantly in the balls on the second level defenders.
It is always dangerous to put too much stock in a professional day performance; We saw it in 2014 with Johnny Manziel, and more recently with Zach Wilson. But McCord simply reconfirmed what we all saw in 2024, which sometimes, players need a landscape change to make the most of their skills. And for McCord, that left Columbus for Syracuse, where he was unquestionable No. 1 of day 1, and constantly reconfirmed his place on the depth table every week.
That said, there were some bumps along the way. Obviously, his 2023 season was not as he had planned, and caused his decision to transfer. There was also that Game the past fall, the performance of five interests on the road against Pittsburgh. It is not surprising that some NFL teams ask McCord in the NFL Combine Scouting.
“I had a meeting and I immediately saw a clip of the Pitt game,” McCord told CBS Sports in The Combine. “I already knew that the direction in which the meeting was going, but honestly, the teams like to talk about it and look back, obviously it was not a fun game, but I’m glad to have passed it.
“You’ll have bad games and how do you answer? I want to finish the year after that game, [me] And the team played tremendously in the section and, therefore, going through something difficult, I think it only creates a lot of adversity and prepares you for the next level. “
McCord told CBS Sports in the Shrine Bowl that reaching Syracuse was “a jump of faith”, and one that could not have worked better.
Not to exaggerate it, but at this stage of the process there are some similarities between McCord and Joe Burrow, who had to leave Ohio State for LSU to find play time. I talked to Burrow at the Combine Back 2020 and asked him what was one of the biggest differences in his game once he arrived in Baton Rouge, and explained that he mentally always knew what he wanted to do with the ball, but it was not until later in his university career that his body allowed him to physically do those things.
For McCord, the last two seasons could not be more different.
“I started working with [QB coach] Jordan Palmer around this era last year entered my year in Syracuse, “McCord said in The Combine.” And now, it’s how I can keep keeping in that trajectory. I think that is as efficient as possible, my launching mechanics and pocket movement, extending the plays, all that. So just focusing on all those areas, a little more about the details. “
Upon entering the season, McCord was probably a free priority agent, or the best of cases, a selection of day 3. After his 2024 campaign, along with a solid week at the Shrine Bowl, good interviews and training at the Senior Bowl and a stellar professional day, it is a selection of day 2 all day for me. In fact, he is my QB4 behind Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders and Jaxson Dart. I know that some NFL teams still see it as a selection of day 3, but it has the size, intelligence and strength of the arm to play a high level in the NFL.
And more than physical and mental tools, when it comes to field marshal, everything is adjustment. Just look at Jayden Daniels in Washington and Bo Nix in Denver. Or looking beyond Round 1 (much further, in this case), Brock Purdy in San Francisco. That is why I love McCord’s idea with the Rams, where he can learn from Sean McVay and behind Matthew Stafford during one or two season. Or in Miami, where Zach Wilson is the only backup behind Tua Tagovaila.
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Gadsden II, Allen also had good morning
The closed wing Oronde Gadsden II has the NFL blood lines: his father played six NFL seasons with the Dolphins, ending with 227 receptions for 3,252 yards and 22 touchdowns, and showed that during his career in Syracuse, and again on the professional day of Monday. It was aligned throughout the formation for orange (40% of the time as a closed wing online, 10% of the time as an external receiver and the other 50% of the time in the slot, and with 6 feet 4, 243 pounds, that size and athletics will serve it well in the NFL.
Gadsden did not run in the harvester, but silenced any concern about his speed with a time of 40 yards of 4.65 seconds on the professional day. And although it will never be confused with, say, Evan Engram, that is not the Gadsden II game; It is an athletic objective of field below in the field that does not win with separation but of physicality, capacity for disputed and hardness capture. Some teams can see it as a tweener, not as a traditional closed wing, but also more than a large space. With NFL passes games, and the skill position players are asked to do more, talents such as Gadsden will be on demand.
I am higher in Gadsden than in some NFL teams, but he is my TE7, which is where I have had it for much of the process prior to the draft. Your professional day and 40 times, for me, only reinforce your game tape.
The Lequint Allen corridor was not executed during the process prior to the draft, which includes the professional day, and that will undoubtedly ask questions about how fast it is. But he played quite fast, he will remain only 20 years when he is recruited, and in addition to being a really good pure corridor, he also stands out as a receiver outside the field and blocks, as well as any return in this class. His ability to run and soft hands were on display on the professional day, where he did not drop a single pass.
Allen is my RB7 and given his age, as well as his ability to capture passes and blocking, I would feel comfortable taking him on day 2.
