Rapid Reaction: Syracuse QB Justin Lamson searches for more playing time
Syracuse quarterback Justin Lamson will enter the transfer portal according to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Lamson was a Rivals three-star quarterback in the 2021 class from Oakridge High in California, and becomes the third player and second quarterback to enter the transfer portal in the spring.
He joins quarterback JaCoabrian Morgan and defensive lineman Jatius Geer as players searching for new homes.
RAPID REACTION
Sunday’s announcement that Syracuse backup quarterback Justin Lamson decided to enter the transfer portal to get a fresh start to his collegiate career, while unsettling news to the program and fan base, is simply the real landscape in Div I college athletics.
In the era which has produced the too-easy-to-use transfer portal, school loyalty is as scarce as water in the desert.
Players with solid credentials and belief in their game do not want to be on the sideline mentally processing the action. They want to have an instrumental part of determining the end result.
So you certainly can’t blame Lamson for leaving Central New York on the last day of the spring portal period.
He wants to play a significant about of snaps somewhere—perhaps closer to his native California—this upcoming season after not playing a single down for SU in his first two years of eligibility.
A scholastic star coming out of metro Sacramento, Lamson showed immense potential throwing the football in the 2022 spring game. But he suffered a knee injury almost a year ago, recovering to come back to show his ability in last month’s spring time, battling Carlos Del Rio-Wilson for the right to back up Garrett Shrader.
Now suddenly the QB roster is only three deep with Shrader and Del Rio-Wilson joined by walk-on Luke McPhail.
Dino Babers and staff will need to move quickly to scour the portal this month for a replacement on the 2023 roster, as they did in nabbing Del Rio-Wilson from Florida to take Lamson’s spot last spring.
All eyes will also be on how the staff zeros in on its top recruiting targets the rest of the spring and summer.
SU can dangle the added lure of the opportunity to earn coveted playing time in front of the reported seven 2024 quarterbacks the Orange have offered scholarships to for next season.
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