After one year at Syracuse University, and a half-hour throwing session at the Orange’s pro day, quarterback Kyle McCord’s teammates had seen enough.

“Hall of Fame,” said LeQuint Allen, a running back for Syracuse. “That's my guy, Kyle. A great guy on and off the field, hard worker and he's ready to compete with anybody.”

“Scouts over there, you better hurry up and draft him,” said Alijah Clark, a defensive back for the Orange. “That's going to help your job. They're going to think you know something.”

“If the right team give him the opportunity, man, he could have a gold jacket,” said Jackson Meeks, a wide receiver.

Those who have seen McCord up close now see him as a can’t-miss quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft.

“I tell them to slow your roll,” McCord said. “I got to get drafted first, and get on a roster. But I mean, it's cool. And I think being back here, at this time of the year, kind of makes you appreciate this whole the last season.”

But McCord also understands the reality. However, he certainly has the abilities and confidence to achieve it all, thanks to SU head coach Fran Brown.

“This is my guy. I loved Kyle,” Brown said. “I truly love him and care about him. And he’s just that dude for real.”

“There's probably nobody in the world that would want me to come back to Syracuse more than him,” McCord said. “And so for him to tell me to go ahead and go to the NFL, I think that was kind of everything that I needed to hear.”

With Brown’s blessings, McCord has been working since January to raise his draft stock – first at the NFL Scouting Combine, followed by meetings and private workouts with NFL teams and capped off with his recent Syracuse pro day.

“Any time that you can get back on the field with your guys, I'm going to take that opportunity every single time,” he said. “It was fun going out one last time with the guys that helped me have a lot of success this year.”

McCord believes transferring from Ohio State to Syracuse, entering a new locker room and creating new relationships, was the perfect preparation for this next chapter in his career.

That, McCord says, on top of the jump he made from year one as a starter to year two, should indicate what kind of a quarterback he’ll be in the NFL.

“I think now for me is just all about how I can stay on that trajectory and keep getting better,” McCord said.