Louisville football: Three Syracuse players to watch

Ifeatu Melifonwu, Cornerback

You may (or may not) recognize this last name immediately. The name Melfonwu was one that rang across the football landscape after Obi Melifonwu, a safety out of UCONN, absolutely blew up the NFL Scouting Combine in 2017.

There, Obi put up a 132″ broad jump, a 44″ vertical, and a 4.40 40-yard dash at 6’4″ and just a hair under 225 pounds. That’s superhero numbers. Obi went on to be a second round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Ifeatu Melifonwu is Obi’s brother. And he’s really darn good in his own right. Ifeatu is a corner on the Syracuse football team and stands at 6’3″ 213-pounds. He has prototypical height and weight for the position and he uses it extremely well.

Melifonwu is Syracuse’s top remaining secondary player and he is equal in caliber to Andre Cisco and Trill Williams as a college football player. Melifonwu is big, physical and will out-muscle receivers at the line of scrimmage and down the field when there is a play to be made on the football.

Melifonwu has registered seven pass break-ups this year for the Orange. That leads the team.

If Louisville is to come out with a win, they may need to consider throwing the ball away from Melifonwu in Friday’s game.

Despite his size, Melifonwu may be the best overall athlete in the game when the Cardinals and Orange take the field this Friday.

No. 3 on the field in Orange this Friday will stick out in a good way for ‘Cuse.