Syracuse football's Garrett Shrader is finally his own quarterback

The Orange are going to have a ceiling almost entirely tied to Shrader, who's no longer a #SaviorShrader, but his own QB forging his own legacy.

But first!

ACCtion Packed was a great show this week since Pitt lost and Syracuse won. We were in our respective elements.

Level Up was also a great effort, this week is one of the most loaded college football slates we’ve had in a few years, with great schematic matchups in each window.

And finally, the Disloyal Idiots show was celebratory after that big win against Purdue.

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Garrett Shrader has been a semi-polarizing character in the story of Syracuse football. He’s never won any major pre-season or postseason ACC accolades, he’s yet to win a bowl game, he’s thrown for just over 5,000 yards in a five year collegiate career, and is 18-18 as a starter. Shrader is also the kind of hard nosed, tough* competitor that endears himself to a fanbase that fell in love with Eric Dungey when the Orange reached their peak under Dino Babers in 2018.

The problem for Shrader in this scenario is that Eric Dungey is arguably one of the best quarterbacks in Syracuse football history**. Dungey is the prgoram’s all time leading passer (9,340 yds) and overall offense (11,333), 3rd in passing touchdowns (58) and rushing touchdowns (35), and finally has the record for most single season touchdowns (33) and is second all time in total touchdowns (93). I don’t think it’s fair to hold anyone to that standard.

But when Tommy DeVito struggled in a 2020 season we should continue to ignore*** and into a 2021 season built around a struggling offensive line, the #SaviorShrader narrative was born, and inherently unfair to the transfer QB. Now let’s be clear about something: Shrader was not the only QB saddled with the “next Eric Dungey” label; That’s been handed out to the likes of Justin Lamson and Chance Amie.

The difference was that Shrader came in as a hyped transfer with this play on his tape.

So yeah, #SaviorShrader was born, and a quarterback who couldn’t push the ball downfield consistently or hit midrange sideline throws. According to PFF, in 2021, Shrader was graded below average on short throws (0-9 yards) and medium throws (10-19 yards) and just average on behind line of scrimmage and deep throws. This kind of performance attached to a savior label and unrealistic comparisons led to the typical fanbase divide: half only saw the good moments, and half only saw the bad.

2021 saw Robert Anae and Jason Beck take the reigns of Shrader’s development and the results in the passing attack have been obvious: Shrader’s 2022-23 grades on those same categories have all jumped to average or above, and while the eye test shows he’s never going to be categorized as an “elite” passer, he is a good quarterback when asked to sling the ball.

But what the Purdue game showed is that Garret Shrader can leverage that passing ability to do what he does best: move. Shrader has 1500 rushing yards, just 493 yards behind Dungey’s career total. He’s also got 28 rushing touchdowns, just 7 away from Dungey’s career total. Dungey was the better passer, but Shrader is the better runner, and is finally developed to a point where he can use his passing ability to open up the running attack. Just take a look at this touchdown run from the second quarter:

This is a designed pass concept with the running back wheel and the inside slant/post being the primary looks, but the pressure of Purdue and solid coverage by #1 eliminating any high percentage throw for Shrader. So he steps up in the pocket, sees no one watching the backfield, follows his block by #70 Enrique Cruz Jr, and then uses his running abilities to get into the endzone. It was patient, it was smart, it was everything you want out of a mobile quarterback.

With Orande Gadsden out for the season, the Syracuse receiving core goes from “good” to suspect. The drops on Saturday night were hopefully a fluke and not a trend, but there’s no doubt that the Orange are now missing a weapon defenses had to plan around that removed pressure from Shrader. If Syracuse wants to reach 8 or 9 wins, it’s going to be because Shrader stays healthy (something he’s yet to do at ‘Cuse) and continues to be the quarterback we saw Saturday night in West Lafayette. That quarterback isn’t “the next Eric Dungey,” he’s the first Garrett Shrader.

*Yes, these are all dogwhistles for a white QB who wants to run.

**McPherson and McNabb are 1-2, and if you want to fill out the Mount Rushmore of Orange QB’s, you’re looking at two of Dungey, Marvin Graves, and Ryan Nassib. I don’t think everyone realizes how good Dungey is relative to the program history.

***Coaches who we thought deserved big money extensions because of 2020: Mel Tucker, Jeff Hafley, and more but those two really stand out.