Syracuse football’s 2023 sacks leader Kevon Darton enters transfer portal

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse defensive tackle Kevon Darton, who led the Orange with five sacks last season, has entered his name into the transfer portal, a source with access to the transfer portal confirmed to Syracuse.com.

Darton’s decision to enter the portal was first reported by recruiting websites 247Sports.com and On3.com

Despite being an undersized player at 5-foot-11 and 271 pounds, Darton was disruptive at the line of scrimmage for the Orange last season.

In addition to his team-best sack total, Darton was tied for second in tackles for loss (8) and eighth in tackles with 42. The website Pro Football Focus gave him the 7th-best grade of any Syracuse defensive player last season. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Darton came to Syracuse as a walk-on but his tenacity and mobility made him a good fit in the 3-3-5 defenses employed by Tony White and Rocky Long during SU’s past few seasons.

New coach Fran Brown said he would place a priority on increasing Syracuse’s size and added three transfer defensive tackles during the offseason.

Alabama transfer Isaiah Hastings, New Mexico State’s Dion Wilson and junior college prospect Michael Nwokocha are all substantially larger than Darton.

Hastings and Nwokocha are both 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds, while Wilson is 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds.

Darton is the 21st Syracuse player from the 2023 to enter their name into the transfer portal since the start of last season. Most of those have come after the arrival of Brown.

Brown’s ability to acquire talent combined with the loss of players who haven’t been viewed as helpful to Power-Four programs has helped Syracuse to strong transfer class rankings on multiple recruiting websites.

Syracuse’s transfer portal ranking is currently No. 10 in the country on On3.com and No. 18 on 247Sports.com.

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