The Orange have lost their top two wide receivers to the portal in Johntay Cook and Darrell Gill Jr.
Like all teams around the country, the Syracuse University football team is being heavily impacted by the NCAA transfer portal, which officially opened up at 12 a.m. ET on Friday.
The Orange will gain some players while losing some others; that's just the way of doing business in 2026, but the program does seem to be getting hit unusually hard, with 27 players in the portal as of this writing.
The wide receiver room has been particularly affected, as was noted by Brent Axe of Syracuse.com:
The SU WR room has now lost Cook, Darrell Gill Jr., Emanuel Ross, Jaylan Hornsby and Umari Hatcher to the portal. SU does add coveted freshman Calvin Russell and Amare Gough to its group of receivers and will have a healthy Darius Johnson. One way or the other, a lot of new faces
Johntay Cook and Darrell Gill Jr. both put themselves in the transfer portal in the last week.
Why are players leaving?
Transferring is an incredibly common thing in this day and age, so you can't apply a "one-size-fits-all" answer. It can be any number of things from NIL opportunities to NFL opportunities to location to conference prestige to playing time to opportunities to win. Only the individual knows.
The one thing that's surprising
It is surprising to see so many wide receivers leave the program given that quarterback Steve Angeli is returning in 2026. Angeli had the Orange out to a 3-1 start this season before suffering a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the campaign. Having a veteran quarterback who is accomplished would seemingly help retain talent, but it hasn't happened for the Orange.
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Other notable transfers
A pair of SU quarterbacks are hitting the portal, with Luke Carney previously announcing his intentions. Rickie Collins, who had previously come in from LSU, is the latest to move on.
Elsewhere on campus
--The Syracuse University men's basketball team dropped a 64-61 contest against Clemson on Wednesday afternoon, falling to 9-5 overall. Donnie Freeman led the way with 18 points but Syracuse is now 0-1 inside Atlantic Coast Conference play.
They'll be back in action on Jan. 6 against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. Tip-off is 7 p.m. ET.
--The SU women avenged a tough loss against Duke on Sunday by beating Florida State on Thursday night. They are now 12-2 overall and 2-1 inside league play.
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