Donovan McNabb is the greatest quarterback to ever done the Syracuse University college football uniform.
Even McNabb’s statistical achievements for the Orange, though, can’t match those of the Miami Dolphins‘ new backup QB.
The Dolphins acquired Kyle McCord from the Green Bay Packers amid NFL roster cuts, and after Miami shipped off Quinn Ewers and got rid of Cam Miller, it became clear that McCord should be Miami’s No. 2 QB.
He hasn’t yet had big NFL success, but McCord was a monster in his final college season (2024) at SU.
Kyle McCord College Career
McCord began his collegiate tenure with three seasons at Ohio State.
With the Buckeyes, McCord appeared in 24 games, starting 13 of them. He was 12-1 as a starter.
Before what would’ve been McCord’s last college season, though, Ohio State brought aboard Will Howard as a transfer from Kansas State. Howard led OSU to a national title, but McCord wasn’t going to stick around to watch that.
Instead, McCord transferred to Syracuse to try and boost his NFL future.
He had a massive season with the Orange, throwing for an ACC single-season record 4,779 yards.
McCord set single-season records for completions (391), attempts (592), yards (4,779), touchdown passes (34) and touchdowns responsible for (37).
The strong-armed righty had 12 300-yard passing games, including two games in which he went over 400 yards.
McNabb ended his career tied for the single-season TD pass record at Syracuse with the 22 he threw in 1998 matching Don McPherson’s 22 from 1987. Ryan Nassib also threw 22 in 2011, then broke that mark with 26 in 2012.
McCord topped them all with his 34 passing touchdowns in 2024.
His single-season passing record shattered Nassib’s previous mark (3,749) by more than 1,000 yards. McNabb’s best was 2,488 passing yards in 1997.
Yes, McCord was in a pass-happy offense and didn’t use his legs the way McNabb did. But in a football program with a long history like Syracuse, the dominance he showed in his single season at QB was quite impressive.
Dolphins QB Depth Chart
The Dolphins’ QB depth chart likely lines up like this for Week 1:
- Malik Willis
- Kyle McCord
- Brady Cook
Cook does have more NFL regular season experience than McCord, getting action as a starter for the Jets as an undrafted rookie in 2025, but that didn’t go particularly well.
McCord had already moved from the Eagles to the Packers before being traded to the Dolphins, so his NFL future is no sure thing, either.
Miami takes a bit of a risk on backing up the new starter Willis with two young players with limited experience, but McCord has tons of a past slinging the ball at a high level in college, and maybe that’s what intrigued the Dolphins enough to bring him aboard.
Dolphins’ New QB Outdid Donovan McNabb in College Record Books