I think we’re looking at a big 2023 season..

[richmondcuse03]

I think most / all of this speculation is based solely on some posts from this board earlier this year. Most of these guys are hard core competitors and they want to keep playing. They love the game and it’s hard to move on unless you’re confident in your ability to get to the next level. I’d be shocked if Garrett moved on but hey, sometimes guys are different. It would just be unusual.

 

[RF2044]

The only way I could see Garrett moving on from Syracuse football would be if there's some chronic injury that makes playing unsafe / not feasible. Under such circumstances, having a kid walk away rather than risk making some existing problem worse would make sense.

But giving up being a starting QB for a bowl caliber team to go work a job? That would be quite a surprise. Plus, I'm guessing that Shrader believes he has unfinished business, and is willing to bet on himself to have a bounce-back year that could get him a look at the next level [however unlikely that might seem].

 

[SmilinBob]

Garrett is just helping recruit and is hinting at leaving as a seller point.

 

[gmoney44]

Yes . There was no one on the roster who could fill the role this season. I really liked Mahar out of high school but if he can’t beat out an OG or an inexperienced foreigner he might want to consider transferring.
Mang and Hoeh were a constant weak spot. This has to be the number 1 priority on offense.

Agree. Anytime we had a TE in the game our offense was at a huge disadvantage. We were a TE and a center away from being a really good team this year.

 

[SoBristol]

I've done this breakdown several times since Lockett got injured earlier in the season.

We have a TON of returning guys at both DT and DE, the vast majority of whom played extensively this year.

Darton was an iron man [really, his play this year was about as best case scenario as it could be, with him having limited support after Lockett went down]. Next year, you not only get Lockett back, but Fuentes-Cundiff is now a year older, we also have Bassette / Hough at DT, and Perry as an incoming frosh.

Philosophically, I understand why people are clamoring for a transfer portal DT. But it all comes down to whether the staff believes that having an expanded rotation of guys will help the DL hold up better against the run. Hough [dealing with an injury this year] is over 320 pounds at 6-3. Probably needs to shed some weight and work back into game shape, but he might be able to step into the role of a situationally "bigger" DT.

Geer, Jobity, Simmons, Okechuckwu all played extensively, and the first three will have an offseason to get stronger. Linton won't add weight, but he's a fifth guy who's contributed a ton. So we have both talent and depth at DE, too. Jacquez was just beginning to get more snaps when he got injured -- he'll be back, and Nolton was a quality "get" who will likely play more going forward. Loaded with experience, with lots of new faces pushing for a role in the two-deep at DE.

We do have a ton of names in the DE/DT lists. Another way to look at it -- do we have the quality and size we need to compete vs the better ACC lines in 2023? How many on your lists are upper-classmen?

I put question marks next to Lockett, Hough and Jacquez (240) until we see they are 100% recovered from season ending knee injuries.

I hope we don't have to play new 1st year DT Perry or next year's Rs frosh who saw some action -- Bassett (260), Nolton (252), and Jobity (247). By 2024 these 4 (and Jacquez (240)) may have grown sufficiently to stand up to ACC lines.

We rolled in 2022 with Okechukwu (270), Darton (266), and Geer (238). Back-ups were Linton (219) mostly in passing situations, Fuentes-Cundiff (267), and Simmons (257). The expected happened -- our line got pushed around. Opposing QBs had a clean pocket most of the time.

We could roll out the same bunch, with 10lbs added to Geer, Fuentes-Cundiff and Simmons, but is that enough quality and size?

 

[GoSU96]

We do have a ton of names in the DE/DT lists. Another way to look at it -- do we have the quality and size we need to compete vs the better ACC lines in 2023? How many on your lists are upper-classmen?

I put question marks next to Lockett, Hough and Jacquez (240) until we see they are 100% recovered from season ending knee injuries.

I hope we don't have to play new 1st year DT Perry or next year's Rs frosh who saw some action -- Bassett (260), Nolton (252), and Jobity (247). By 2024 these 4 (and Jacquez (240)) may have grown sufficiently to stand up to ACC lines.

We rolled in 2022 with Okechukwu (270), Darton (266), and Geer (238). Back-ups were Linton (219) mostly in passing situations, Fuentes-Cundiff (267), and Simmons (257). The expected happened -- our line got pushed around. Opposing QBs had a clean pocket most of the time.

We could roll out the same bunch, with 10lbs added to Geer, Fuentes-Cundiff and Simmons, but is that enough quality and size?

I thought Jacquez broke his arm, Hough’s issue is he was out of shape. He got hurt last season.

 

[SU91]

We do have a ton of names in the DE/DT lists. Another way to look at it -- do we have the quality and size we need to compete vs the better ACC lines in 2023? How many on your lists are upper-classmen?

I put question marks next to Lockett, Hough and Jacquez (240) until we see they are 100% recovered from season ending knee injuries.

I hope we don't have to play new 1st year DT Perry or next year's Rs frosh who saw some action -- Bassett (260), Nolton (252), and Jobity (247). By 2024 these 4 (and Jacquez (240)) may have grown sufficiently to stand up to ACC lines.

We rolled in 2022 with Okechukwu (270), Darton (266), and Geer (238). Back-ups were Linton (219) mostly in passing situations, Fuentes-Cundiff (267), and Simmons (257). The expected happened -- our line got pushed around. Opposing QBs had a clean pocket most of the time.

We could roll out the same bunch, with 10lbs added to Geer, Fuentes-Cundiff and Simmons, but is that enough quality and size?

but is that enough quality and size?

No, no it is not.

 

[GoSU96]

but is that enough quality and size?

No, no it is not.

Yeah it is. The issue in the losing streak wasn’t really the run defense it was the offense. They ran 54, 61, 48, 48, 61 plays.

The defense had 5 games under 100yds and two more under 150.

And the vast majority of guys playing were 1st 2nd and 3rd year it’s a solid group.

 

[SoBristol]

Yeah it is. The issue in the losing streak wasn’t really the run defense it was the offense. They ran 54, 61, 48, 48, 61 plays.

The defense had 5 games under 100yds and two more under 150.

And the vast majority of guys playing were 1st 2nd and 3rd year it’s a solid group.

I think it is a combination of the offense not being productive and a defense that could not stop basic power runs. The offense certainly wasn't good against Pitt (no Shrader) or ND (Shrader limited in 1H, CDR-W in 2H), but was good enough against Wake except the defense could not stop the mesh. The run defense was awful against Clemson (saved by 4 turnovers in our favor), ND, FSU, Wake. Too many 6+ yd gains given up on 1st down, too man easy conversions on 3rd and short by power up the middle. Brutal.

And how much pressure did we get on opposing QBs?

The young guys will be a solid group -- in 2024. I believe we have a better group of young DEs on the roster than we have had in many seasons. But this is for the future. For 2023, portal help in the DL could make a big difference.

 

[Millhouse]

Yeah it is. The issue in the losing streak wasn’t really the run defense it was the offense. They ran 54, 61, 48, 48, 61 plays.

The defense had 5 games under 100yds and two more under 150.

And the vast majority of guys playing were 1st 2nd and 3rd year it’s a solid group.

We can never expect to shut down teams as talented as ND and FSU, you gotta score

I'm not mad about it, offense isn't talented enough to keep up especially with injuries. 47 in p5 yards per play is pretty good. I'm trying to imagine what Spence, pariani, mcfit, etc would've done

But a roster like this has a ceiling

 

[SU91]

I think it is a combination of the offense not being productive and a defense that could not stop basic power runs. The offense certainly wasn't good against Pitt (no Shrader) or ND (Shrader limited in 1H, CDR-W in 2H), but was good enough against Wake except the defense could not stop the mesh. The run defense was awful against Clemson (saved by 4 turnovers in our favor), ND, FSU, Wake. Too many 6+ yd gains given up on 1st down, too man easy conversions on 3rd and short by power up the middle. Brutal.

And how much pressure did we get on opposing QBs?

The young guys will be a solid group -- in 2024. I believe we have a better group of young DEs on the roster than we have had in many seasons. But this is for the future. For 2023, portal help in the DL could make a big difference.

I think this is correct. The O was bad, but our D line gets manhandled. Bludgeoned. Opponents three yards upfield before first contact and taking LBs for a ride. Opponents entire offensive lines pushing our entire D line six yards deep into the end zone. Even without injury we would’ve been pounded. Scheme is only so much. We’re not built to hold up.

 

[shu 49]

Yeah it is. The issue in the losing streak wasn’t really the run defense it was the offense. They ran 54, 61, 48, 48, 61 plays.

The defense had 5 games under 100yds and two more under 150.

And the vast majority of guys playing were 1st 2nd and 3rd year it’s a solid group.

I hate to disagree but the strong line teams got push on our dline. Darton held his own until double team and he would get washed. Hell watch the wake game. They wedged up middle and took our guys with them. We need some big guys like a slayton or Jones to stop the middle runs by eating doubles and still making plays. I’m not saying u don’t use Lockett or Darton but if they are getting pushed u beef up. We don’t have to move to 3 300 lbers. Just want a big guy or 2 in case we need them.

 

[Trueblue25]

I just can't believe another year is gone. Sad.

Me too, but hey we’re bowling and things are looking up.

 

[Trueblue25]

Depth at DL is fine. Our offense has to stop sucking and sustain some drives.

Our defense plays twice as many snaps as the O.

Its not sustainable.

Honestly the only position group id like to see added to on D is DB. Barron wasn’t great at Rover, Simmons improved, and we need more big cb’s.

 

[SoBristol]

Depth at DL is fine. Our offense has to stop sucking and sustain some drives.

Our defense plays twice as many snaps as the O.

Its not sustainable.

Honestly the only position group id like to see added to on D is DB. Barron wasn’t great at Rover, Simmons improved, and we need more big cb’s.

Agree we need another CB - either portal or a new recruit. Might have candidates on the current roster.

Why does our defense play so many snaps? One factor is our offense, but also the defense can’t stop runs and get off the field. We have plenty of DL depth, if you count a lot of young guys who need a couple of years to add size. We don’t have run stoppers with ACC size.

 

[Consigliere]

Are we getting a new coach? If not I expect more of the same

Great! A second straight bowl game and winning season while being competitive in most every game? That’s a foundation to build on! Sign me up!

 

[GoSU96]

I hate to disagree but the strong line teams got push on our dline. Darton held his own until double team and he would get washed. Hell watch the wake game. They wedged up middle and took our guys with them. We need some big guys like a slayton or Jones to stop the middle runs by eating doubles and still making plays. I’m not saying u don’t use Lockett or Darton but if they are getting pushed u beef up. We don’t have to move to 3 300 lbers. Just want a big guy or 2 in case we need them.

I know they got pushed around in 5 games, and agree they need to get stouter, but all I was saying that isn’t why they lost those games.

unless the 1st and 2nd year players are as big as they are going to get, the answers might already be on the roster. You don’t want Darton to put on much more weight at his height, but it’s not unreasonable to get 3 or 4 other guys in the 280 to 290 range by the start of next year. Hough needs to lose weight.

This defense isn’t built around having a 300 lb guy controlling both A gaps.

 

[Consigliere]

There’s really no way to gauge next season until we see how all the player movement shakes out.

I do think the schedule is generally favorable. Lots of potentially winnable home games. So glad we ditched the divisional set up, great having GaTech and VaTech instead of NC State and Louisville.

Agree generally on the conference schedule swap, but we won’t get more wins out of the two Techs than we got out of Louisville and NC State this year. With Clemson and Wake staying on the docket and a game at UNC the conference schedule is arguably tougher than this year.

 

[PhatOrange]

The only real defensive metric that matters is scoring defense and they were 37th in the Nation in scoring Defense at 22.67 ppg. The D is good enough for 9 or even 10 wins. (and this is with most of the 1 and 2 deep not finishing the season.) They only had 3 games over 30 points.

You can drill down things like run D and 3rd down D and all that stuff but the objective is to keep the other team out of the endzone.

Offensively we were 68th scoring at 28ppg but we had a 2 game stretch were we scored 9 and 3 points. The Offense is more broken than the run D.

We need to add some beef inside but imo, it's more about rotating and keeping guys fresh. We didn't have any bodies left to do that.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I know they got pushed around in 5 games, and agree they need to get stouter, but all I was saying that isn’t why they lost those games.

unless the 1st and 2nd year players are as big as they are going to get, the answers might already be on the roster. You don’t want Darton to put on much more weight at his height, but it’s not unreasonable to get 3 or 4 other guys in the 280 to 290 range by the start of next year. Hough needs to lose weight.

This defense isn’t built around having a 300 lb guy controlling both A gaps.

I don't remember Lockett getting pushed around before injury either and if Hough can really take this off season to trim down and get in really good shape he could be a contributor as well. Obviously the knee injury has been a 18-20 month process

Like you said, if they can find a key piece at DL then great but we aren't going to overhaul the DT position through the portal

 

[Consigliere]

I think most / all of this speculation is based solely on some posts from this board earlier this year. Most of these guys are hard core competitors and they want to keep playing. They love the game and it’s hard to move on unless you’re confident in your ability to get to the next level. I’d be shocked if Garrett moved on but hey, sometimes guys are different. It would just be unusual.

I think the fact that Garrett went from basically eschewing NIL opportunities preseason to embracing his truck pitchman role among other things might be interpreted as an indication he has an appreciation for the financial incentives involved in being QB1 for a P5 team. With Tucker and Mikel likely moving on, he should certainly be the leading candidate for the most lucrative initiatives next year. Likely the best financial option in our out of football for him.

 

[Trueblue25]

Agree we need another CB - either portal or a new recruit. Might have candidates on the current roster.

Why does our defense play so many snaps? One factor is our offense, but also the defense can’t stop runs and get off the field. We have plenty of DL depth, if you count a lot of young guys who need a couple of years to add size. We don’t have run stoppers with ACC size.

Its our o’s inability to sustain drives. Our O was “ok” this year. Far too often it disappeared though.

People here ask why we have so many injuries compared to other schools.

Maybe look at how many snaps our defense plays vs. the league average.

We need first downs and sustained drives.

 

[tombacuse]

Im excited for our bowl but while we wait for our selection it doesn’t hurt to look at positives moving forward.

We know we lose: Coley, Berg, Mikel Jones, GW, Cooper, Elmore

Its likely we lose: Sean Tucker and unknown names to portal attrition

However we get back Thompson, Lockett and Jacquez… among other big names that played most of the season far less than 100%.

We know Duce, Marlowe, Darton and Jahad were all playing hurt.

We get a rejuvenated Mob, thats bigger, older and healthy.

We get back multiple proven commodities at wideout between Oronde, Alford and Adams.

RB still looks solid with Allen. Does Price have another year? The incoming freshman looka great

The O line will continue to get better. At what speed that happens will likely determine our ceiling.

A lot of competition in the QB room. 4 guys who likely would see starting time at most p5 schools. Look to Shrader to continue to progress. Lamson is intriguing after his spring game performance. CDRW is an exciting raw talent. Sellers looks to be the real deal as well.

Whatre you guys thinking going into 2023?

True blue = Michigan you are referring to?

 

[Consigliere]

Thrilled to see divisions go away but I am not sure how much easier next year's schedule will be when compared with this year's results. Obviously the strength of repeat opponents given roster churn and flipping from home to away and vice versa changes, in some case significantly, but just looking at the brand names:

Out of conference we went 3 -1 with wins over a G5 team, an FCS team and Purdue plus the loss to Notre Dame. To replicate that we need to beat Colgate and WMU and repeat the win at Purdue. We have an opportunity to flip the Notre Dame loss into a win against Army so a potential pick up there.

In conference we beat BC, UVa, Louisville and NC State. We lost to FSU, Clemson, Wake Forest and Pitt. We have repeat games against 1 win and all 4 losses. We replace our three best wins with games against UNC, Va. Tech, and Georgia Tech. Can't win any more than 3 of those games and UNC is arguably a stronger opponent than any team we beat this year.

Personally I expect an improvement in overall record with a flip against either Wake or Pitt and a win against either UNC or Purdue on the road, but a better record based on an "easier" schedule is not exactly a gimme.

Now 2024 when we replace Clemson, Va. Tech and UNC with Miami, Duke and Louisville might nbe a different story entirely!

 

[Trueblue25]

True blue = Michigan you are referring to?

No sir - they’re adorable.

Im talking University at Buffalo