#CuseCamp17 Position Preview: Tight Ends

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The tight end position is one the coaching staff would like to play a larger role in the offense, so the Orange went out and signed one of the top junior-college players at the position – Ravian Pierce.

A 6-3, 237-pound native of Plantation, Fla., Pierce has the size and speed to pose matchup problems for opposing defenses. That's something his recruiting coach, Nick Monroe, identified immediately.

"He's the type of athletic talent who can provide mismatches when he lines up in the box on linebackers, yet he's athletic enough where we can flex him out in space as a receiver and safeties are going to have a hard time matching up with him physically," Monroe said.

Pierce enrolled at Syracuse in January and spent the spring getting used to the tempo of the offense. He played his first two seasons at Southwest Mississippi Community College and caught 77 passes for 733 yards and five touchdowns. He was rated the third-best tight end in junior college this cycle by both 247Sports.com and Scout.com.

Converted linebacker Kyle Kleinberg is the only tight end on the roster with Syracuse game experience. He's a core special teams player and he is expected to back up Pierce.

Like Pierce, redshirt freshman Jesse Conners and junior Joe Pasquale joined the team in January. Conners spent his true freshman season at Holy Cross and will have to sit out 2017 due to NCAA transfer regulations.

Freshmen Aaron Hackett and Donny Sanders both arrived this summer. Hackett attended Venice High School (Fla.) where he was coached by former Orange tight end Beckett Wales. Hackett finished third in the district in receiving yardage as a senior and led Venice to a 12-1 record, including a victory in the Florida Class 7A District 11 title game. Sanders was a quarterback at The Potomac School in Virginia and prepped at Fork Union Military Academy.

Their classmate, Chris Elmore, could also line up at tight end in addition to being an option in the backfield.

Season tickets, partial plans and group tickets for Orange football are on sale now online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B). Season tickets start at $125.

Single-game tickets are also on sale now. Tickets start at $25 for non-conference games against Central Connecticut State, Middle Tennessee and Central Michigan, $30 for ACC matchups with Wake Forest and Boston College, $35 for the Oct. 7 Pittsburgh game on Orange Central Weekend, and $45 for the Clemson game on Oct. 13.

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Syracuse University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Jesse Conners

Chris Elmore

Aaron Hackett

Kyle Kleinberg

Joe Pasquale

Ravian Pierce

Donny Sanders

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