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Oronde Gadsden II was the talk of the town in Syracuse once again. It was Sunday, Oct. 19, and SU junior tight end David Clement noticed his old teammate — Gadsden — posting ridiculous numbers for his fantasy football team.

“There’s no way,” Clement thought as he checked the Los Angeles Chargers-Indianapolis Colts box score. There was Gadsden’s stat line: seven catches, 164 yards, one touchdown.

Gadsden’s performance shattered the Chargers’ single-game receiving yards record for a rookie tight end, surpassing Hall of Famer Antonio Gates’ 117-yard day in 2003. While neither Clement nor his peers are surprised by Gadsden already getting NFL playing time, he said he ravenously texted his teammates to turn on the TV to “watch our brother work.”

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown heard the news while watching film from the Orange’s Oct. 18 loss to Pittsburgh. Even while grinding tape, Brown took a moment to celebrate his former tight end becoming an NFL star before his eyes. And also remember Gadsden did have one more year of collegiate eligibility.

“Dang, he could have stayed in college one more year, right?” Brown joked during a press conference on Oct. 20. “I went from being really happy for him to, ‘Why’d you leave, chump?’”

Clement said he couldn’t imagine how good Syracuse would be if Gadsden stayed. However, it’s clear the Week 7 Pepsi Rookie of the Week made the right decision. Gadsden is tearing it up in Los Angeles, racking up 27 receptions, 385 yards and two touchdowns through seven games played in 2025. In less than a year’s time, he went from an under-the-radar star at SU to one of quarterback Justin Herbert’s favorite targets on a playoff-contending team.

Gadsden spoke on the phone with The Daily Orange Wednesday afternoon to rehash his glory days in Syracuse and reveal what he thinks led to his blistering start in the NFL.

Though Gadsden acknowledged the immense national praise he’s receiving, he’s nowhere close to truly comparing himself to Gates — for that, you need a bust in Canton, Ohio.

“It feels great to be in the same footsteps as him; I want to just continue that and one day be in the Hall of Fame like he is,” Gadsden said.

Oronde Gadsden II celebrates with former SU running back LeQuint Allen Jr. after scoring in Syracuse’s 2024 bowl game versus Washington State. Gadsden totaled 934 last year after returning for one final year at SU. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor

Gadsden — who caught 143 passes for 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns at Syracuse from 2021-24, which included near-1,000 yard seasons in 2022 and 2024 and an All-American nod last year — was always considered a Day 3 pick when he declared for the NFL Draft in January.

Why? The 6-foot-5, 236-pound tight end proved to be a valuable weapon as a big target from the slot. Modern NFL offenses pass more efficiently when sporting 12-personnel looks — formations with two tight ends.

However, Gadsden was blunt about his deficiencies. Heading into the NFL Draft, he said he struggled to hold his own as a blocker. Gadsden prioritized his blocking development with Syracuse in 2024, but after meeting with teams in the draft process, he knew he still fell short in that area.

It caused Gadsden to slide to the fifth round, getting selected by the Chargers with the 165th pick of the NFL Draft.

“The ability to block and be on the field each and every play, I think that’s the reason why,” Gadsden said of going in the fifth round.

When you get picked that deep, it’s typical that you don’t even have your first conversation with the team’s head coach until your phone rings during the draft. Gadsden said that’s how he first got introduced to Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh.

He made a quick impression on the legendary coach.

This past June, during LA’s offseason camp, Harbaugh talked about Gadsden for about three minutes straight in a press conference. He said Gadsden is “about as ascending a player as you could watch,” but the rookie’s dedication mostly struck him. Harbaugh told stories about how he has to kick Gadsden out of the film room sometimes because he doesn’t want to leave. When that happens, Gadsden simply crushes weight or hits the practice field to hone in on route running.

“That kind of drive is showing up on the field,” Harbaugh said about Gadsden on June 12. “And we love it.”

Gadsden prioritized showing LA’s coaching staff consistency and accountability throughout training camp. He said he learned that, to make it in the NFL, you need to show you won’t make the same mistake twice, whether that’s a missed block or miscommunication on a route. Gadsden was ecstatic to come into work “every day” and stayed healthy throughout the offseason — never missing a second.

After training camp ended, Harbaugh noticed a vast improvement in Gadsden’s blocking technique. He called him a “super willing” blocker, but to stand out in the Chargers’ tight end room, Gadsden needed to refine his fundamentals.

Still, because of Gadsden’s elite separation and pass-catching abilities, Harbaugh figured he got a steal in the fifth round.

“I’ve been to this movie a few times of seeing good tight ends,” Harbaugh said of Gadsden. “And I think he’s gonna be good.”

Six appearances into his NFL career, Gadsden became the fifth rookie tight end in the Super Bowl era to record 150-plus yards in a game.

Harbaugh’s vindications were correct, despite holding Gadsden out as a healthy scratch in Weeks 1 and 2. Gadsden mostly spent time as a blocker the next three games before receiving No. 1 tight end reps against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 12, where he grabbed seven passes for 68 yards but lost a fumble.

Then he wrecked the Colts’ secondary a week later, highlighted by his 53-yard reception, where he broke multiple tackles and blazed inside the red zone after hauling in a Herbert pass on a sluggo route.

Oh look at me, I'm Oronde Gadsden, I'm a good enough route-runner to draw a holding penalty but also good enough at the catch point to pluck footballs out of the air and then big and athletic enough to break tackles and rack up wild YAC. Whatever dude.pic.twitter.com/VVQa7tm9pD

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 20, 2025

While he exploded for an average of 103 receiving yards per game in three contests from Oct. 12-23, Gadsden has kept his Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade above 60.0. His run blocking is sub-40.0, but Harbaugh is fine with those errors if Gadsden keeps putting up numbers few rookie tight ends have ever registered.

“I’m just trying to show that I can do everything that is needed on a football field,” Gadsden said.

Gadsden’s wild run has helped his quarterback, Herbert, lead the NFL in passing yards through eight weeks of the 2025 campaign. Gadsden said Herbert is easy to work with and rarely misses wide-open throws, which has helped the two develop chemistry quickly.

On the other side, Herbert thinks the world of Gadsden.

“As soon as he got here for camp, we knew he was going to be pretty good. He made a ton of plays, picked up the offense really quickly, found a way to get open. And that’s what he did tonight,” Herbert said on Oct. 23 after Gadsden tallied 77 yards and a score in LA’s 37-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings. “We’re definitely going to get him the ball as much as we can because good things happen when he gets it.”

It’s helped Gadsden to share the field with somebody like Keenan Allen, too. The veteran wide receiver is a similar big-bodied pass catcher who excels at getting leverage on defensive backs from the slot. Gadsden said he intently studies how Allen uses pre-snap motion along the line of scrimmage to get open on short and intermediate routes.

A superstar quarterback and a potential Hall of Fame wideout as teammates? In LA, Gadsden is feeding off the excellence around him.

Just like last year in Syracuse.

“It was amazing to see OG just be OG,” Brown said of Gadsden’s recent performances with the Chargers. “He’s a workaholic, so he deserves all that comes his way.”

Gadsden looks back fondly on his SU days. His greatest memory will always be helping the Orange go 10-3 in 2024 — one of the program’s greatest seasons ever. Gadsden notably could have transferred or entered the NFL Draft after 2023, but he chose to stay for Brown’s first year. Once Gadsden finally had his QB, Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord, he never looked back.

Gadsden tries to stay connected with his former SU teammates amid the grit and grind of the NFL season. Most commonly, though, that comes through fantasy football.

Gadsden is being immortalized by fantasy football geeks across the world. His shocking rise up the Chargers’ depth chart led to Gadsden being the most popular waiver-wire pickup in fantasy football after putting on a show against the Colts.

Though Gadsden doesn’t care about fantasy football, his father — former Miami Dolphins player Oronde Gadsden Sr. — went viral for saying he’s going to keep his son on his fantasy team’s bench as a superstition for him to continue his spellbinding performances.

The only people on record who’ve been starting Gadsden since Day 1 are in SU football’s locker room. Considering Gadsden’s status as a hidden-gem prospect, it’s only fitting his old friends would recognize him as a diamond in the rough.

According to Gadsden, SU redshirt senior defensive back Tommy Porter selected him within the first few rounds of his fantasy league. So on the morning of Monday, Oct. 20, when the rest of the world scrambled to scoop up Gadsden from their league’s free-agent pool, Porter was already a step ahead.

“He didn’t have to pick me up — he drafted me early on,” Gadsden said with a laugh. “I guess that ended up working out for him.”

Published on November 2, 2025 at 4:00 pm
Contact Cooper: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews