Syracuse football’s 2023 quarterbacks: Garrett Shrader finally has familiarity at OC

Syracuse, N. Y. — For pretty much the first time in his five-year college football career, Garrett Shrader has some consistency.

This season will be his second under quarterbacks coach Jason Beck. It’s the first time he’s kept the same position coach for consecutive years. Beck, also Syracuse football’s offensive coordinator, will be the fifth OC Shrader has played under.

He also returns his top receiving target in Oronde Gadsden II, and backup, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, returns as well. “I’m grateful for where I’m at and the guys that I have around me,” Shrader said last week at ACC Kickoff, noting the lack of consistency he’s had in his career. “I have learned that that’s what matters the most.

” That strong support system around Shrader, plus a spring of rest and recovery following an offseason surgery, puts Syracuse’s leading man in prime position to have the best season of his career. Besides Shrader and Del Rio-Wilson, SU has two other quarterbacks: Braden Davis, the South Carolina transfer, and Luke MacPhail, the fourth-year preferred walk-on. The Orange did not sign a QB in the 2023 recruiting class and lost Justin Lamson to the transfer portal after spring ball, leaving them in lurch and prompting the pickup of Davis.

There’s little mystery to the group as a whole, with each player’s role for 2023 seemingly set in stone even before the team begins practice Wednesday. Still, each has their own intriguing storyline to watch through fall camp and into the season. For Shrader: He missed spring ball while recovering from a procedure that both he and coach Dino Babers say will bring him back better than ever.

Shrader resumed throwing sessions with his trainer in his hometown near Charlotte, North Carolina. The start of camp, though, will be the first time leading SU’s offense since the Pinstripe Bowl loss in December. Then there’s Del Rio-Wilson.

The third-year quarterback, who transferred into the program last season from Florida, co-led Syracuse’s offense this spring with Lamson. Del Rio-Wilson showed improvement from his play last season against Notre Dame and Pittsburgh but still has room for growth as he spends another season behind Shrader. Del Rio-Wilson, too, has worked with a personal trainer this offseason — former SU standout Charley Loeb.

Through his performance in fall camp and in any instance he takes over in-game for Shrader throughout the season, Del Rio-Wilson could solidify himself as the heir to the starting job. Fall camp will be the first look at Davis. He joined the program in May after transferring from South Carolina, where he did not appear in any games as a true freshman in 2022.

He’s a Delaware native who won the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year award in 2021 and was the No. 1 player in the state, according to the 247Sports’ composite. Davis led Middletown High School to a state title his senior year.

While Del Rio-Wilson will have a leg up on him, there’s certainly potential Davis challenges him in the spring for the 2024 starting role. But that’s looking a bit far ahead. This season, Shrader and Beck could lead SU to being a top-25 offense.

The Orange looked close last year, at least early in the season, and still finished the highest (No. 75) it had since 2019, when it finished No. 71 in the country in total offense.

Similarly, SU was back up to No. 66 in passing offense last year, its highest since No. 60 in ‘19.

Shrader tied for No. 35 in the country with Maryland’s Tualia Tagovailoa in passing grade (81. 2%), according to Pro Football Focus.

He cracked the Top 25 among QBs in overall offensive grade (87. 4%) and finished No. 42 in run grade (76.

1%). He has a chance to cap his career with his best season yet and will make a push for the top of SU’s record book in passing efficiency, completion percentage, passing yards per game and attempts. Of course, Shrader has to remain healthy.

But the combo of good health and some constants around him undoubtedly puts Shrader in the best position to have a strong season of any he’s been in entering fall camp, at least while at Syracuse. .