WR Damien Alford withdraws from portal

[Orangejet]

Dude can be replaced and good luck to him at McGill U. or Western Manitoba U. or wherever he lands.

 

[orangepassion]

because he was going to be replaced on the depth chart? 29 catches is easily replaceable

By who? If the staff thought the guys behind him were better, they probably would have been playing more this past year.

 

[RF2044]

By who? If the staff thought the guys behind him were better, they probably would have been playing more this past year.

Jones -- who got injured against Purdue and couldn't play from that point forward.

 

[sutomcat]

IMHO, Damien has the highest ceiling of any of our WRs but his career has been plagued by mistakes.

He lines up off sides a lot. He holds a lot. He runs the wrong pattern a lot. He drops the ball a lot.

It looks to me as though we have a successful play when he is targeted about 25% of the time. That is not good.

At times, it looks to me as though he is a fine blocker. He makes more spectacular catches than anyone on the team yet also drops balls more than anyone.

What an enigma. He is has NFL size, strength and speed and when everything goes right, he is close to uncoverable.

Unrealized potential is a sad thing. I hope he figures it out someday. Preferably in a Syracuse uniform.

 

[MikeSU02]

Who is the WR that high pointed a poorly thrown deep ball that had to twist his body to high point it but landed out of bounds?

I think CDRW made that throw.

Was it Hatcher?

Whoever that WR was is our WR that has our most raw talent behind OG. That was the best pure catch I saw all year even though it didn't count. I don't think that was DA.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

I thought Alford was our best blocking WR. He was our third leading receiver in yards and TDs. He was a starter. He was able bodied. There is no heir apparent.

His transferring would be a loss. Not an insurmountable loss, but a loss none the less. Teams with lesser talent really can't afford to hemorrhage any talent (though it is inevitable).

 

[PhatOrange]

By who? If the staff thought the guys behind him were better, they probably would have been playing more this past year.

Courtney Jackson had 37 catches last year. People expected him to have 90 this year. He had 15. Other kids emerged. Same thing will happen here.

And Alford actually only had 20 catches, not 29. We're replacing a kid who caught 20 passes. 5 more than Courtney. Other than him being 6-6 and making 2 highlight catches it doesn't move the needle. (and his hands aren't even that good.)

Damien Alford - Football - Syracuse University Athletics

Damien Alford (5) Wide Receiver - Career Overview: Wide receiver who emerged as one of the team’s big play threats ... Among all Syracuse receivers with 10...

cuse.com

 

[Nahson]

By who? If the staff thought the guys behind him were better, they probably would have been playing more this past year.

That's not true, Dino often times values experience over raw skill. We've seen it a lot with his personnel decisions. How many times has a starter been injured, the backup comes in and we say "who the hell is this guy and where has he been?". I for one have been begging to see Umari Hatcher on a consistent basis.

I'm calling it now, Umari Hatcher is next years break out.

I loved Alford's size and was always hoping he'd have his Jamaal Custis moment, but sometimes big and athletic, isn't enough.

I don't see this as a loss the same way I see Ja'had Carter as a loss.

 

[RF2044]

I thought Alford was our best blocking WR. He was our third leading receiver in yards and TDs. He was a starter. He was able bodied. There is no heir apparent.

His transferring would be a loss. Not an insurmountable loss, but a loss none the less. Teams with lesser talent really can't afford to hemorrhage any talent (though it is inevitable).

The heir apparent is Isaiah Jones, who is also a bigger receiver.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Measurables at the Wr are great but I always go back to Sales and Lemon. Take those two all day. Knew how to get open

 

[MSOrange]

Measurables at the Wr are great but I always go back to Sales and Lemon. Take those two all day. Knew how to get open

Kind of like with the NFL combine - do you want guys who pass the look test or have shown they can actually produce?

 

[PhatOrange]

The heir apparent is Isaiah Jones, who is also a bigger receiver.

The week 1 depth chart was Alford OR Jones and it was trending Jones.

Through the first 3 games (before Jones got hurt) he was 4-60 and 1 TD. Alford was 1-47 and 1 TD. Not a lot of difference but Jones was being targeted and like I said it was trending Jones and seemed obvious. This is Jones' job to lose if he's healthy.

 

[Scooch]

Jamal Custis didn't take off until his last season. Everyone doesn't hit the ground running.

Yep, like I said, maybe he flourishes going forward. Maybe he doesn't. There's a reason he's leaving and its weird that it has happened 2 weeks after the bowl game.

 

[SU94]

He dropped as many passes as he caught.

He also won a game for us as a true freshman (at VT) with a last-minute long TD catch that only he was equipped to catch among those on our roster (he used his height/wing-span to reach over the trailing defender on a slightly underthrown ball from Shrader).

I get it. He's not an A-A in waiting. But he is way more likely to get better with each passing year. Most do, especially kids from Canada, who have not played as much football. I really don't see how this departure makes the program better. At least not directly. I don't get the "whatever, he was decent" vibe that some (many?) have here?

This was an evolving wideout with significant upside to improve.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Disappointing.

 

[SuFTW]

He also won a game for us as a true freshman (at VT) with a last-minute long TD catch that only he was equipped to catch among those on our roster (he used his height/wing-span to reach over the trailing defender on a slightly underthrown ball from Shrader).

I get it. He's not an A-A in waiting. But he is way more likely to get better with each passing year. Most do, especially kids from Canada, who have not played as much football. I really don't see how this departure makes the program better. At least not directly. I don't get the "whatever, he was decent" vibe that some (many?) have here?

This was an evolving wideout with significant upside to improve.

He has been at SU for 3 years and was not a true freshman when he made that catch against VT.

I didn’t see anyone saying the program will be better without him, maybe I missed it, but most are saying his production so far was limited and so it should be replaceable.

At this point with the portal, why have anything more than a whatever vibe. I think most agree it is disappointing, but not much we can do about it and it will happen over and over again for the foreseeable future. The sky is falling vibe doesn’t help.

 

[orangepassion]

The week 1 depth chart was Alford OR Jones and it was trending Jones.

Through the first 3 games (before Jones got hurt) he was 4-60 and 1 TD. Alford was 1-47 and 1 TD. Not a lot of difference but Jones was being targeted and like I said it was trending Jones and seemed obvious. This is Jones' job to lose if he's healthy.

I agree that Jones will start, but he probably would have started alongside Alford. That would given us 2 big, athletic receivers. I do like Hatcher, but like Hatcher AND Alford better.

 

[Doc5120]

That's not true, Dino often times values experience over raw skill. We've seen it a lot with his personnel decisions. How many times has a starter been injured, the backup comes in and we say "who the hell is this guy and where has he been?". I for one have been begging to see Umari Hatcher on a consistent basis.

I'm calling it now, Umari Hatcher is next years break out.

I loved Alford's size and was always hoping he'd have his Jamaal Custis moment, but sometimes big and athletic, isn't enough.

I don't see this as a loss the same way I see Ja'had Carter as a loss.

My breakout guy is D'Marcus Adams. It seemed like every time he was in, he was behind the defense. Shrader needs to hit him on those routes, but to me, it seemed like he was open downfield, A LOT.

 

[storange]

He has been at SU for 3 years and was not a true freshman when he made that catch against VT.

I didn’t see anyone saying the program will be better without him, maybe I missed it, but most are saying his production so far was limited and so it should be replaceable.

At this point with the portal, why have anything more than a whatever vibe. I think most agree it is disappointing, but not much we can do about it and it will happen over and over again for the foreseeable future. The sky is falling vibe doesn’t help.

Yep, your going to lose players to the portal because
1 $$$$$$
2 I don’t play enough
3. I don’t get enough carries
4 I don’t get enough targets
5. I’m delusional and think I should be the marquee player at UGA next year.

There is often not a thing that can be done, 4 receivers can’t all have 60 receptions and 15 TDs

 

[PhatOrange]

I agree that Jones will start, but he probably would have started alongside Alford. That would given us 2 big, athletic receivers. I do like Hatcher, but like Hatcher AND Alford better.

Maybe they would have been on opposite sides but he depth charts had them listed at the same position. The other side was Cooper and Pena and Cooper obviously became a fixture on that side. Idk if they were on the field together during the first 3 games.

 

[Giants1973]

My breakout guy is D'Marcus Adams. It seemed like every time he was in, he was behind the defense. Shrader needs to hit him on those routes, but to me, it seemed like he was open downfield, A LOT.

Adams and jones

 

[money3189]

That's not true, Dino often times values experience over raw skill. We've seen it a lot with his personnel decisions. How many times has a starter been injured, the backup comes in and we say "who the hell is this guy and where has he been?".

All coaches do this. You cant play a kid just because he has more talent. They need to know everything about the offense and build continuity or else you get a lot of mistakes that can cause the whole unit to be dysfunctional. There's different reasons why players don't get on the field. It could be cognitive issues, behavioral, selfishness, etc..

 

[money3189]

I think Adams is the new Alford. I wish Alford the best as long as its not against SU.

 

[RMH44]

I say either grades came into play or someone else is transferring in. And if not the latter, the coaches need to make the latter happen pronto.

Yep, the timing is telling, imo. Grades come to mind immediately.

 

[RMH44]

If our QB was more accurate and targeted him more I doubt he leaves,

GS does some nice things but its infurating how badly he misses on some throws. But even if a WR is wide open and has to make a diving acrobatic catch and can't get any YAC posters on here act like its still a great throw.

This sucks.

yawn...lather, rinse, repeat. Yet another clown post.