BREAKING: Syracuse Lands Transfer QB Garrett Shrader
Syracuse's quarterback room received a significant boost on Saturday. Mississippi State transfer Garrett Shrader committed to the Orange. He picked Syracuse over Virginia Tech, Louisville and other suitors. Shrader has three years of eligibility remaining. He was listed at 6-4, 220 pounds on the MSU Athletics website.
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Shrader had been switched to wide receiver for the 2020 season, but did not see much playing time. He had one catch for eight yards in only one game played. As a true freshman quarterback, he saw action in 10 games. He completed 88 of 153 pass attempts (57.5%) for 1,170 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions. Shrader also ran for 587 yards with a 5.2 yards per carry average and six touchdowns as a freshman.
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In 2019, perhaps his best game was against the eventual national champion LSU Tigers. He went 17-28 for 238 yards and ran for 66 yards on nine carries. He had two total touchdowns in the game as well, but did throw two interceptions. The next week against Texas A&M, he threw for 194 yards and three touchdowns while running for 64 yards. Earlier in the season in a win over Kentucky, he ran for 125 yards on 11 carries.
Shrader is a true dual threat quarterback out of Charlotte Christian High School who was considered one of the best such players in the 2019 class. He signed with the Bulldogs over offers from Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Louisville, Missouri, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Wake Forest, West Virginia and many others. Syracuse recruited him pretty heavily out of high school and now that pursuit paid off as he is joining the program.
SI All-American’s John Garcia Jr. thinks it would be a great fit for both sides.
“The state of Syracuse football, from an outsider's perspective, is a troubled offense-first program not clicking on that side of the football like it has in recent years when the program was up," Garcia Jr. said. "Part of the issue in 2020 has clearly been the quarterback room, from a production or depth perspective, two areas in which a guy like Garrett Shrader could potentially help now and into the future.
"Shrader was the guy for 10 games at Mississippi State in 2019, throwing for 1,170 yards and 8 touchdowns versus 5 interceptions while completing 57.5 % of his passes. Not great. But MSU didn't throw it as much with him in the lineup, so numbers like yards per attempt help tell a more comparative story. Over a large sample size, he sat at 7.6 yards per attempt against the rugged SEC defenses, including national champion LSU, Alabama and others. For context, the mark would align him with Ian Book (Notre Dame) and have him ahead of other QBs leading a winning program in the ACC at Boston College (Phil Jurkovec, 7.5) and Miami (D'Eriq King, 7.1). Tommy Devito sat at 6.1 before suffering his injury.
"A middle-of-the-pack passer from an efficiency standpoint, with a chip on his shoulder and the running game to keep any defense on his toes -- with three years of eligibility remaining -- won't be the worst thing for the Orange. Even with the impending arrival of SI All-American candidate Justin Lamson, he'd instantly be the most athletic quarterback on the SU roster should Dino Babers and company reel him in the second time around.”
