Syracuse cornerback Chris Peal is getting national shine before the season even starts.
Phil Steele named Peal a preseason All-American, putting him on his fourth team and slotting him as the No. 11 cornerback in the country among players eligible for the NFL draft. He also made Peal the highest-ranked Syracuse player on any of Steele’s preseason All-ACC teams, placing him on the second team.
That kind of recognition has been building for Peal all offseason. After last year’s NFL draft, several publications projected him as high as a first-round pick.
He’s the latest Orange defender to draw this kind of preseason attention from Steele, following tight end Oronde Gadsden II in 2023. Gadsden was a third-team preseason All-American then and is now with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Syracuse landed two more players on Steele’s all-conference lists: Toledo transfer linebacker Chris D’Appolonia on the third team and returning linebacker Antoine Deslauriers on the fourth. The Orange did not place an offensive player on any of Steele’s four All-ACC teams, even though quarterback Steve Angeli is Syracuse’s most established option on that side of the ball. Angeli is coming back from a torn Achilles tendon.
The quarterbacks Steele selected were Miami’s Darian Mensah, SMU’s Kevin Jennings, N.C. State’s CJ Bailey and Pittsburgh’s Mason Heintschel.
Steele’s preseason guide has earned its “college football’s Bible” nickname for a reason: it’s 376 pages long, Steele has been at this for years, and the book tries to cover every team in the country in detail.
His read on Syracuse is clear enough. He sees a team that should be better than last year’s 3-9 finish, but not one that’s ready to match the level Fran Brown reached in his first season. Steele projects the Orange to be in the mix for a bowl bid, while also ranking them 15th among the ACC’s 17 football teams.
A big part of that optimism starts with areas that were problems a year ago. Steele’s magazine says Syracuse’s quarterback room and linebacker group should be strengths now.
Nationally, he ranked the quarterbacks No. 21 and the linebackers No. 60.
Brown went hard after the quarterback spot, bringing in three transfers to compete with Angeli: Appalachian State starter Amari Odom, former UTEP quarterback Malachi Nelson and former Georgetown quarterback Danny Lauter. That depth likely helped push the room up Steele’s board. He ranked Syracuse’s quarterbacks in a four-way tie for third in the ACC, behind only Miami and Southern Methodist, the two teams with the most proven starters at the position.
Linebacker is another spot Steele clearly likes. D’Appolonia gives the group a boost, Deslauriers drew notice after flashing as a true freshman, and Gary Bryant III is back as another starter. Steele put Syracuse’s linebacker unit ninth in the conference.
The concerns are just as obvious. Syracuse’s wide receivers came in at No. 64 nationally and its defensive backs at No. 68, but the running backs, offensive line and defensive line all landed below Steele’s cutline. He ranked the running backs as the worst group in the ACC and the defensive line as the second-worst.
That’s where the Orange’s offseason overhaul gets tested. Syracuse rebuilt the depth chart at running back and defensive line, but it is leaning on transfers who have not yet proven themselves in those roles. The loss of Yasin Willis could end up being a major issue if the offense struggles the way Steele expects.
Up front, the Orange did not make many personnel additions along the offensive line. Instead, they turned to veteran coach Juan Castillo to try to get more out of the group.
The schedule won’t make life easy, either, even if it looks better than last year’s. Syracuse played the 10th-most difficult schedule in the country in 2024. Steele sees improvement there, but not by much - he ranks this year’s slate 42nd nationally and 16th in opponent winning percentage.
The Orange still have to deal with a stretch of games against teams Steele ranks No. 2 through No. 6 in the ACC: SMU, Clemson, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Virginia.
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