Syracuse football freshman move-in day is Sunday, and Scott Shafer welcomes a crop of 26 — including early enrollee Matt Keller — onto the team. Here’s a brief look at the last six of the group.

Reminder: Original Class of 2015 commit Brandon Ginnetti will arrive in January as part of the Class of 2016 and Trey Dunkelberger is a junior college transfer, so he won’t be included in the freshman class. All physical measurements are according to Scout.

Qaadir Sheppard, defensive end, Iona (New York) Prep School

Sheppard was another recruit who attended Syracuse’s MetLife game against Notre Dame, but wasn’t committed at the time. That changed on December 18, when he gave the Orange its second consecutive defensive end commit. He stands at 6-foot-3 and 222 pounds and is listed as a D-end, but caught 58 passes for 842 yards and 13 touchdowns his senior season, according to MaxPreps.

Kenny Carter, defensive end, Plainfield (New Jersey) High School

Carter stands at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and runs a 4.8-second 40-yard dash. Plainfield head coach Jason Glezman told Syracuse.com that he thinks Carter can add 20 or 30 pounds since this past year was his first regularly lifting weights. That’s impressive for a defensive end who’s already at 250 and can move a little bit, too.

Jake Pickard, defensive end, Millburn (New Jersey) High School

Pickard was one of the bigger surprises of the group, decommiting from Wisconsin then choosing Syracuse over Michigan. He’s one of four New Jersey prospects that wide receivers coach Bobby Acosta helped reel in and could be the best of the defensive line group. He can also play tight end, and stands at a burly 6-foot-6, 236 pounds.

Kielan Whitner, cornerback, Mountain View (Georgia) High School

Whitner committed to SU after decommitting from Appalachian State and will be another quick defensive back that could play either safety or corner. He’s 6 feet tall and weighs 180 pounds and the last to commit of the trio of verbals from the Peach State.

Kenterius Womack, quarterback, Luverne (Alabama) High School

Womack, a commitment that came after National Signing Day, came as a bit of a surprise since the Orange already had an incoming freshman signal-caller in Eric Dungey and a handful of others already on the roster. But the coaches said the prospect who also stood out for Luverne’s baseball team was a diamond-in-the-rough find.

Ted Taylor, outside linebacker, Dodge City (Kansas) Community College

The last commit of the class was Taylor, the third JUCO transfer on top of Dunkelberger and walk-on Zack Mahoney. He hasn’t been listed in the Syracuse student directory yet, but would provide yet another set of legs to compete with those challenging for the third linebacker spot. Taylor has three years of eligibility left to play two seasons.

Published on July 5, 2015 at 6:07 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman