Syracuse already has its quarterback locked in for the 2017 recruiting class with Tommy DeVito, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Dino Babers and his staff have begun looking ahead to get a head start on 2018 at the position. Saturday, the Orange hosted one of the top rising junior gunslingers in the state of Ohio, Tadas Tatarunas.
2018 QB Tadas Tatarunas @tadas_tatarunas is visiting Syracuse today https://t.co/ww6DT3QoTe
— CuseNation.com (@SyracuseOnScout) April 30, 2016
Tatarunas is a 6-foot-4, 200 pound prospect from Mentor, Ohio, who got his first season as a starter under his belt in 2015. He put together a strong campaign, completing 62.6% of his passes for 2,963 yards with 24 touchdowns against 12 interceptions, according to MaxPreps. Incidentally, his first season as a starter came to a close in the Ohio state playoffs against Orange ’16 signee Carl Jones and St. Edward.
Right now, Tatarunas is awaiting his first scholarship offer but should see his recruitment begin to blow up. He’s getting a lot of interest from some of the heavy hitters, including Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Ohio State, and also recently visited Indiana along with a trip to check out the Irish. He’s also visited Purdue and Northwestern in recent weeks, as well.
Tatarunas possesses prototypical size for the position, and is a very solid athlete as well, as a member of the Mentor basketball team as well. He’s got a good, strong arm and shows pretty good touch for such a young player, and should emerge as one of the top QBs in the Midwest in the class of 2018. Syracuse is smart to get in on him early, because by this time next year he’s sure to have a long list of offers from across the Power 5 conferences.