Syracuse QB, Charlotte Christian alum Garrett Shrader gets home game at ACC Kickoff
Garrett Shrader boasts one of the best college football resumes in the country.
He’s one of only five active FBS quarterbacks with more than 5,000 career passing yards and 1,500 career rushing yards. He’s prolific on the ground and in the air, and he’s been outsmarting his opponents since he played football for Jason Estep, then the coach at Charlotte Christian.
“He was the smartest guy on the field,” Estep said. “He got us into the right situations more times than not. By the time he got out of there, he essentially could run the whole thing by himself if he wanted to.”
Shrader earned a four-star designation from 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals while leading Charlotte Christian to back-to-back North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I 4S state titles as a junior and senior.
He was back in Charlotte Tuesday for the ACC Kickoff.
Finding a college home
His 9,023 career offensive yards and 107 career touchdowns — with a cumulative completion percentage of 65.8% — helped him earn offers from Alabama, Louisville, Penn State, South Carolina and Mississippi State, to which he committed in April 2018.
“As a high school football coach at that position that he played, I couldn’t have coached anybody better,” Estep said.
After two years of inconsistent playing time and significant coaching changes between Joe Moorehead and the late Mike Leach at Mississippi State — where he moved to wide receiver at one point — Shrader transferred to Syracuse in the spring of 2021.
Shrader wasn’t handed the starting job. He transferred knowing he would have to compete with junior Tommy DeVito. After Week 6, Shrader was the clear winner in that battle, and DeVito entered the transfer portal. Entering his fourth season with his fifth different offensive coordinator, Shrader is trying not to let his future prospects cloud his current judgment.
“The biggest thing is just knowing where I’m at and where I’m trying to be and be content with that,” he said. “I don’t put pressure on myself. I want to go and perform to the best of my ability, just trusting my God-given abilities, going out and having fun and being the best leader and teammate for the guys. That’s my goal every day.”
Using his versatility
Comparing him to Taysom Hill and Josh Allen, Estep agreed that Shrader is big for his position, at 6 feet, 4 inches tall and 225 pounds, with a versatile skill set. Leach’s decision to try Shrader at receiver wasn’t an accident — Estep said even in the recruiting process coaches wondered whether Shrader could step in somewhere other than at quarterback.
“He believes he’s the best one out there,” Estep said. “And I do too, but his athleticism and his skill set make you wonder, is there something else he can do?”
For now, Shrader said, his only focus is quarterback.
“I’m a quarterback through and through. The position of leadership, that’s what I’m built for,” he said.
Success at Syracuse
In his 21 games at Syracuse, Shrader has been the leader his team needs. He’s had five game-winning or game-tying drives capped with a score in the final 90 seconds of regulation.
Nagging injuries slowed his progress last season, but Shrader persisted, finishing the 2022 season with the second-best completion percentage in the ACC (64.7%). He capped his junior year with a record-setting Pinstripe Bowl performance, where he set team bowl records for completions, attempts, passing yards and total offense.
With at least one more season on the horizon, Shrader will be on NFL scouts’ radars as a more mature, developed quarterback ready to step into an established role.
“I think if you watch him play, you understand how much of a competitor he is. He’s a winner,” Estep said. “However all this works out, Garrett Shrader is going to be successful one way or the other, whether he plays on Sundays, or he doesn’t.”
