College football: Bergeron expected to lead best Syracuse NFL draft class in decade

Apr. 26—SYRACUSE — Dino Babers beamed with pride at the sight of Matthew Bergeron sporting his Syracuse University football practice attire for his pro day workouts, in front of personnel from every NFL franchise recently at the Ensley Athletic Center.

The head coach anticipates a similar feeling of fulfillment over the next few days as he watches the NFL Draft with up to four SU players potentially being picked, led by Bergeron, the offensive tackle likely to be the highest selection of Babers' seven-year tenure.

Bergeron is expected to be joined by cornerback Garrett Williams, running back Sean Tucker, and possibly linebacker Mikel Jones in what is forecasted to be the largest SU draft haul in at least a decade.

Babers recently expressed his gratitude for Bergeron's unspoken gesture, particularly with such a large contingent of scouts and coaches on hand, after witnessing dozens of players in past years work out in gear representing a training facility or agency.

"To do that on our turf in front of all those pro scouts — I've been here seven years — guys come in with pro-this, pro-that, trainer-this, trainer-that, but I've never seen anybody do it in their own gear," Babers said. "It was really cool to see, and to see the guys watch him do it."

The NFL Draft will kick off the first round at 8 p.m. Thursday, while the second and third rounds will begin at 7 p.m. Friday. Rounds 4-7 will wrap on Saturday with coverage on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network throughout.

Syracuse has three players projected in the top five rounds and Jones appears in the seventh round of some recent mock drafts. Three players chosen would mark the Orange's largest draft class since 2013 while four would be the most since 2006. No SU players were picked in last year's draft.

"We're headed in the right direction," Jones said at the SU Pro Day. "Syracuse football will be respected, a lot of progress is coming to this team."

Bergeron — the 6-foot-5, 318-pound offensive tackle from Victoriaville, Quebec — should be the first SU representative off the board and has been predicted as high as the late first round. He is most frequently projected in the second round, according to the NFL Mock Draft Database.

In the latest rankings by ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. this week, Bergeron was ranked at the No. 6 offensive tackle and the 49th player overall.

He is widely projected as the highest SU selection under Babers — expected to top Andre Cisco, who was drafted as the top pick of the third round by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 — and aiming to snap a 10-year drought in the first round. Offensive lineman Justin Pugh was the last first-round pick from SU in 2013.

Williams is the only other SU player in the top 100 of Mel Kiper's overall rankings at No. 97, entering as the 12th-ranked cornerback by the ESPN expert.

He is expected to be a third-round pick, per the NFL Mock Draft Database, and has seemingly maintained his draft stock despite recovering from a torn ACL suffered in October.

Williams is expected to be ready for training camp and said he was focused on acing the interview process at the NFL Scouting Combine and in subsequent follow-up meetings with various teams.

"This is a place you can be developed, and you can make it to the league," Williams said at the SU Pro Day. "There's that stigma that if you come here, you can't go to the league, but I feel like these past couple years, we're doing nothing but disproving that."

Tucker, the record-setting running back, held a private workout Monday at SU reportedly attended by the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals.

Tucker is pegged as a fourth- or fifth-round selection by the NFL Mock Draft Database — ranking as Kiper's 15th running back — but was held out of on-field work at the combine and pro day due to an undisclosed medical issue that was cleared by the league last week.

Jones is projected to sign as an undrafted free agent by NFL Mock Draft Database but has appeared in multiple prognostications as a seventh-round pick. He just missed the cut for Kiper's top-36 linebacker rankings and was his top prospect listed under "best of the rest," at the position.

Kicker Andre Szmyt, fullback Chris Elmore, and long-snapper Aaron Bolinsky are other SU players to watch when undrafted players begin to sign as free agents late Saturday afternoon.