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 first five 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.

Tyrone Perkins, running back, Friends Academy (New York)

On Sept. 6, 2014, Perkins tore his right ACL in a preseason scrimmage. He didn’t know if Syracuse would uphold its scholarship offer that he accepted on April 16.

“The first second it happened, I was just focused on the knee,” Perkins told The Daily Orange in September. “But after that, I was really nervous and scared about what was going to go on with (Syracuse).”

The Orange honored his commitment and he’s one of three running backs in the class. A 6-foot, 190-pound three-star prospect, Perkins is now part of a group that will look to reverse the fortunes of one that only got two rushing touchdowns from its running backs all of last season.

Jordan Fredericks, running back, Lawrence (New York) High School

Fredericks became the second running back commit and second overall verbal pledge in the class when he gave SU his commitment on April 24, 2014. The three-star back stands at 5 feet 11 inches and 196 pounds, and carried the ball 184 times for 2,156 yards and 35 touchdowns in his senior season, according to MaxPreps.

Sam Clausman, offensive tackle, St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) High School

Clausman is part of a unit that Shafer emphasized as a focus in this class, offensive line, and the 6-foot-4, 290-pounder will join four other freshmen in that group. One of them is high school teammate Colin Byrne, and the two St. Thomas products will join a unit that will try and rebound from a poor 2014 after being hampered by injury and now two graduations.

Cody Conway, offensive tackle, Plainfield North (Illinois) High School

Conway was one of three offensive linemen to commit on May 16, 2014, joining Clausman and Byrne. He’s 6 feet 6 inches, 280 pounds and one of two offensive linemen in the class from Illinois along with Andrejas Duerig. There are only three players taller than him — offensive tackles Jamar McGloster, Jon Burton and Denzel Ward — on Syracuse’s current roster.

Colin Byrne, offensive tackle, St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida)

Byrne was one of several potential recruits and verbal pledges to make the trip up to MetLife Stadium to watch Syracuse take on then-No. 8 Notre Dame on Sept. 27, 2014. He joins Syracuse as yet another lineman to help rebuild a broken unit and his 6-foot-5, 295-pound stature will provide yet another big body that SU can possibly turn to if it faces the same injury fate as last year.

Published on July 5, 2015 at 2:09 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman