I think we’re looking at a big 2023 season.. | Page 6 | Syracusefan.com

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

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.
Yeah I agree with that. On the field all game and 3 and outs kills ya. I shoulda read it more thoroughly.
 
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.
We may never agree on this.
But the one comparison around the league is how small our DL is. Look at how many times we got totally destroyed by the OL, pushing our smaller guys 5 yards off the line, with the CBs and LBs forced to make tackles. Did you watch the Wake game? Big guys pushing smaller guys leads to injuries. DBs having to deal with OGs, TE, OTs and RBs can lead to injuries.
Playing 240 2nd year guys against 310 lb seniors -- another source of injuries.
Yes, the D plays a lot of snaps, but it isn't only because the O hasn't sustained drives. If you play bend and don't break, giving up 6-plus yards on first downs, and allowing the opponents to convert short yardage, you give up a lot of sustained drives and the D plays a lot of snaps. And then the O gets fewer chances.
 
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.

Exactly. Some defenses are built to allow teams to nickel and dime you down the field. Like the cover 2 in the NFL. The only thing that matters is whether the other team scores. For all the injuries and time on the field, the defense was really good this year. It was tough to watch ND especially just line up and run it down our throats but at the same time our fast, agile D put a butt kicking on UL at the start of the season and we’ve always struggled with QB’s that can run the ball.
 
I wish I had your optimism. We just watch our top players get decimated by injuries every year. Either fix the injury problem or get better players for depth. It's been a recurring problem for a decade or longer. It seems systematic within the program.

Well, I think part of the calculus is that we already built up a lot of that depth because of injuries to half of our two-deep from the beginning of the season. With limited attrition, and the second year of the Anae offense, we have a lot more depth than ever.

However, we said the same thing the year Tommy took over at QB, we filmed that stupid Famiglia video, and then crashed to 5-7 while our QB got shell-shocked and he had a very public falling out with our best WR.

So, there are no guarantees. But with this coaching staff mostly sticking together and getting to know each other better, this upcoming year should be very good.

Having Shrader back (and keeping him healthy) is a key. Better blocking by the O Line, and more depth and size on the D Line are also essential. Add 1 more WR from the portal who could be really good, and I like our chances next year.
 
And the O and D lines? Yeah, I don't see them any better or bigger. Our schedule shouldn't be as hard. That would be a plus.

Well, the D Line should be a bit bigger. They'll have another year of S&C, and were pretty young, for the most part.
 
Agree with all said here dino needs to fix this o line it’s not fair to the qb and everyone else. If we do not address the d and offensive lines this off season then my expectations will be extremely low.

"Extremely low"? We finished 7-5 with those terrible units this year.
 
We have a small class for 2023, and players will leave the program. I really think that the portal will be the make-or-break for next season.

We need: 1 DT, 1 DL, 2 OL, and 1 or 2 WR who can play meaningful minutes. Maybe another solid-depth CB. With these pieces, I think 2023 will be a fun year!

Unfortunately, we said about the same thing last year, and we got pretty much nobody to address positions of clear need.
 
Having more DTs that are healthy and can play could mean some bigger fronts on 3rd and short or something. Darton and Lockett in together or something etc.
 
It may be wishful, but I think we see 34 in orange, next year...

I think he could have a better year. Another 1200-1400 yard season rushing, and another 40 catches out of the backfield, and he could really move up the board. Travis Etienne at Clemson took a couple years of being great before he really started getting the proper attention of the media. That is possible for Tucker, if he were to come back.

I guess it depends on how much he likes college, how much he likes how the program uses him (I have to think he's pretty positive about that ...), and whether he thinks he could improve his draft stock next year. Does he feel like he still has unfinished business, or was this enough for him? Only he knows that.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back...but it might be for another team. I think C. Jackson is gone also.

A 1 year try-out for a team? I don't think he could choose an SEC school. No guarantee he would be the starter at Clemson or Florida State for a year, when they are loaded with 4 and 5 star recruits. Does he go to a Big 10 team with a more traditional running based offense? I guess the one that would really hurt would be to see him go to Penn State and then have a stellar year for them.
 
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.

Yes, but the other poster's point is that, despite the experience they gained, (1) they are still on the small side, and (2) they are still young.

That's a big part of the reason they got hurt in the first place - the lack of size and experience.

And not everyone is going to be fully recovered from knee injuries to start next season. Hopefully they will, but there were a few, and not all them will likely heal.
 
Anwar Sparrow
Marlowe Wax
Stef Thompson

Leon Lowery
McDonald
Bailey
Mason

Mark my words will be our best LB group in 25 years
No Roon on that list? I think he is our biggest LB. 6'3 228.
 
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I hope Thompsons rehab is going well. It would be wonderful to have him back healthy and at full strength.
 
"Extremely low"? We finished 7-5 with those terrible units this year.
Yea with 2 last second come from behind wins with extremely favorable calls and a starting qb we didn’t have to face. I’m not a here-say person but we don’t feel like a well oiled machine and that’s worrisome.
 
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. CDRiW is an exciting raw talent. Sellers looks to be the real deal as well.































Whatre you guys thinking going into 2023?







My goodness
























My goodness I hope ur right
 
Yea with 2 last second come from behind wins with extremely favorable calls and a starting qb we didn’t have to face. I’m not a here-say person but we don’t feel like a well oiled machine and that’s worrisome.
So come from behind wins are a negative and not a positive?
 
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.
No doubt our offensive malaise after Shrader went down put more pressure on our DL. And it's an overstatement to blame the DL as "the [sole] reason" we lost 5 games. It wasn't.

However, our inability to stop the run - with undersized interior personnel - was clearly a big factor in those losses. In (at least) 3 games our opponents ran through us at will: ND (255); Pitt (180) and Clemson (327). This led to other problems. We gave up a ton of TOP (ND - 37/22; Pitt 36/23; and Clem. 33/26). We stressed our defense even more, and we deprived our offense of opportunities. So in these games, and partially in two others (Wake 233, Top 35/25; and FSU 254, top 36/24), stopping the run would have kept TOP more balanced, given our defense more rest, and maybe gotten us a win against Clemson. In short, our defense was on the field because it couldn't get off.

The injured guys you mentioned will help. Let's hope Perry and the transfer can shore up this unit.
 
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Well, I think part of the calculus is that we already built up a lot of that depth because of injuries to half of our two-deep from the beginning of the season. With limited attrition, and the second year of the Anae offense, we have a lot more depth than ever.

However, we said the same thing the year Tommy took over at QB, we filmed that stupid Famiglia video, and then crashed to 5-7 while our QB got shell-shocked and he had a very public falling out with our best WR.

So, there are no guarantees. But with this coaching staff mostly sticking together and getting to know each other better, this upcoming year should be very good.

Having Shrader back (and keeping him healthy) is a key. Better blocking by the O Line, and more depth and size on the D Line are also essential. Add 1 more WR from the portal who could be really good, and I like our chances next year.
About that coaching staff, looks like not. The question is why are our coordinators all jumping ship after 1 or 2 years? Money or something else. Dino has had no stability on his staff in his tenure. Does SU not pay a competitive amount for its coordinators?
 

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