The Syracuse Orange are coming off one of their best seasons in program history. They won 10 games and had one of the most high-powered offenses in the country. A lot of that offensive success came from Kyle McCord, who led the Orange at quarterback and passed for the most yards in the country last season.
That kind of production is hard to replace, but Syracuse might have found their next signal-caller in LSU transfer Rickie Collins.
Syracuse Names Rickie Collins QB1
In Dec. 2024, Syracuse landed Rickie Collins in the transfer portal after he announced his decision to leave the LSU Tigers. After competing for the starting job all spring, head coach Fran Brown has made him the starter heading into the fall.
Fran Brown on naming LSU transfer QB Rickie Collins as Syracuse’s starting quarterback:
He described the competition as “even” but said Collins had the edge because he’s only been with the team since December
“He’s moving into being the leader of our football team.” pic.twitter.com/uz2uRAOaPQ
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) April 7, 2025
Collins hasn’t played many snaps in college, only throwing seven passes in his two years with LSU. However, he was a highly touted recruit out of high school, ranked as a four-star and a top 300 player, and had offers from many of the best schools in the country.
Collins isn’t as pure of a passer as Kyle McCord was last season, but he does possess above-average mobility outside the pocket and will be a running threat for the Orange as well.
If Collins can get close to the kind of production Syracuse saw out of Kyle McCord last year, there is no reason why the Orange won’t be competitive in the ACC again.
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Fran Brown is certainly good at identifying high-level talent, and Syracuse was able to land Collins in the portal even though many teams were pursuing him. This is a good sign for Syracuse fans, and I expect Collins to be a nice fit in offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon’s offense.
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