SWC75
Bored Historian
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(The class is based on year of eligibility left, not academic class: a freshman has 4, a sophomore has 3, a junior 2 and a senior 1)
QUARTERBACKS
Seniors: Eric Dungey 6-4 226; Juniors: Clayton Welch 6-5 235; Sophomores: Rex Culpepper 6-3 223; Freshmen: Tommy DeVito 6-2 211; Chance Amie 6-3 199
Everybody has enormous respect for Eric Dungey. He took over the QB position ten minutes into the first game of his freshman year when his predecessor, Terrel Hunt, went down with an injury. He proved to be an immediate upgrade, showing both poise and competitiveness, (to the point of combativeness: Lamar Jackson lept over an SU defender to score and Eric tried to do the same thing at the other end), as well as the ability to throw a very catchable ball or save a play by taking off and running with the ball. He was our second leading rusher to Jordan Fredericks as a freshman, to Dontae Strickland as a sophomore and led the team last year. On his positive plays, (eliminating the 91 sacks), he’s run for 1,719 yards and 20TDs in 268 carries, an average of 6.4 yard per carry. When he does throw he’s completed 560 of 868 passes (64.5%) for 6,472 yards, (11.6 per completion and 7.5 per attempt) for40 TDs and 21 interceptions. He’s the kind of dual threat quarterback that has always killed us and we’ve got him on our side. He’s one of the best returning QBs in the country.
Beyond that, he’s an inspirational player because of his personality, (he seems to combine being a nice guy with a fiery competitor), and fearless playing style. His impact on the team seems to go beyond just the offense: the whole team sags when he isn’t in there, which is why SU fans hope and pray that he can complete the season this year. And that’s been the problem: it hasn’t happened yet. He played 8 games his first year, 9 his second and 9 last year. It’s a big reason why this team has won only one game in November in his tenure. An improved offensive line and a back-up quarterback who was blue-chip recruit rather than a walk on should help. But Eric always seems to be a play away from having his season end.
He’s not a perfect quarterback. I don’t think he has NFL arm strength or accuracy. He’s a very good college quarterback, (which is all we need him to be). Our offense is predicated on throwing constantly to the sidelines and Eric just doesn’t throw that pass well. He tends to throw it to the inside of the receiver, where the defender can get at it, rather than two the outside, where only his receiver is likely to get his hands on it. Four times last year, Dungey threw an interception on the first SU possession of the game. They were all big games and all on the road: LSU, North Carolina State, Miami and Florida State. We lost all of those games, by an average of 7 points. It might have been a very different season without those picks.
The new back-up, Tommy DeVito does have an NFL arm and accuracy, as testified by anyone who has seen him in practice. I think he’s much more the type of quarterback Dino loves: a guy who will stay in the pocket and pick apart the defense. Coming out of high school, ESPN ranked him 8th among the nation’s pocket passer prospects. He was very impressive in the post-season all-star games: Under Armour, Nike Elite and 7 on 7. He’s considered out best QB recruit since Donovan McNabb.
He could also be the “inspirational” type, as shown by this anecdote from his high school career: “Once, when he was about 16, DeVito stayed at practice to do extra conditioning with a teammate who had fumbled twice that day. DeVito was a backup, but he performed the extra length-of-field sprints on a hot day so his teammate didn’t have to do it alone.” He’s also been working toward this for a long time: “DeVito might not be at Syracuse if not for his mentor and trainer, Leon Clarke. Since he turned 6, DeVito went through rigorous circuits several times per week, including 60 minutes of drop backs and hundreds of throws into hula hoops laid out on a field to target. After a year with Clarke, he knew how to three-step drop and look off safeties. “Much of my 20s was spent with him,” Clarke said. “… He put a lot of his childhood to the side to prepare for what he has today.”
Here’s some highlights from Tommy’s high school career:
QB Tommy DeVito Senior Highlights
The completion percentage is, of course 100%, (it’s a highlight film). I didn’t see a lot of dramatic plays but there were a lot of sideline throws shown and they were thrown to the proper place and with some zip on i8t. My favorite play came when the receivers were covered and he just moved to the side, not to scramble but to buy time, and threw a side-arm pass for a diving completion along the sideline. He’s not immobile. It’s just that he’s always looking to pass first and uses his mobility to create opportunities to complete passes. Dungey scrambles to be a one-man offense.
DeVito must be chomping at the bit after being redshirted his first year. That year allowed him to learn Baber’s offense. If Dungey had already graduated, Tommy would be our starter vs. Western Michigan and we’d be all excited about that. If Dungey goes down again, the DeVito Era, (and I think there will be one), will begin at that point. But how ill Tommy be used before that? Emergencies? Mop-up duty? Or will he share the positon with Dungey, perhaps reducing the chances of losing Dungey to injury? There have been some articles saying that DeVito had “closed the gap between himself and Dungey. Babers: “I think he really closed ground having so many opportunities to work with the No. 1 offense, to work with the No. 1 wide receivers, And that development is going to pay off.” DeVito: “"Coming into my second summer at this, I've been trying to stay calm, learn more of the playbook, really get all of the little things right,"
I think Tommy will create an era of his own, just not right away. And eventually he may prove to be an upgrade even over Dungey.
Rex Culpepper was supposed to be “the next guy”. He was one of Scott Shafer’s last notable recruits and the son of a former NFL player, (Brad, who played tackle, not Dante who played quarterback). He redshirted his first year and played credibly last year, completing 45 of 75 passes (60.0%) for 518 yards (11.5/6.9), although his touchdown to interception ratio was poor, (2 to 3). He was kind of the forgotten man with all the publicity over DeVito until he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in March and underwent 100 hours of chemotherapy. He was declared cancer-free in June. His father was a contestant on “Survivor” and now Rex is a survivor himself. He, too, has the respect of his teammates and will be an option if we need him.
Chance Amie was a surprise recruit from Texas. He had originally committed to Houston but flipped to Syracuse. He’s supposed to have “all the skills you’d want in a quarterback”. Like Dungey he’s a dual-threat type of guy, which also means he could play other positions. He was rated the #28 dual threat QB in his class by 247Sports. But he got an early start here, enrolling in January and participating in spring practice.
His highlight film makes him look like a high school version of Lamar Jackson:
Of course, Ashton Broyld looked like a high school version of Cam Newton. He completed 2 passes in three years here, switching to running back and receiver, where he scored 1TD in those three years. There’s a lot of guys who look gorgeous in high school but don’t make it on the next level for various reasons. But Amie and DeVito seem like the type of prospects we haven’t been getting here in a long time and they and others like them could play a major role in turning things around here.
Clayton Welch is a junior college transfer who passed for 63 yards and a score in the spring game. He is a walk on but a big one at 6-5 235. He was on the roster last year but didn’t play in any games. He put up some good numbers at Butte College in California: “Welch completed 54.4 percent of his passes for 1,325 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions in 12 games played last season. He also ran for 821 yards and 11 scores.” Zach Mahoney saw a lot of action as Dungey’s back-up the last three years after being a JUCO walk-on but it says something for the improved state of the program that Welch will have a hard time seeing the field with all this completion, even if he might have a bit more experience beyond high school.
Actually he looks pretty darn good in the highlight film in this article:
Syracuse football recruiting: 2017 JUCO QB Clayton Welch signs with SU as walk-on
There’s talk that with Welch having another year’s eligibility after this, Culpepper having two and DeVito and Amie having three, we may not recruit a QB in the 2019 class at all. What a change that is from the way things have been here for years.
RUNNING BACKS
Seniors: Dontae Strickland 5-11 204 Juniors: Abdul Adams 5-11 209; Moe Neal 5-11 191; Otto Zaccardo 5-10 206 Sophomores: Markenzy Pierre 5-11 217 Freshmen: Luke Erickson 6-0 211; Jack Guida 6-0 188; Jarveon Howard 5-10 210
This positon looks a lot like the quarterback, except that it’s usually shared by two guys. We have two veteran performers returning but it looks like some greater talents may be coming up behind them who will eventually take over and upgrade the positon. In this case, though, an upgrade is definitely needed. In Dino Babers’ first two seasons, we have finished 115th and 70th in the nation, (of 129 teams) in rushing and last year’s improvement was deceiving as Dungey was our leading rusher, (despite missing the last three games).
Dontae Strickland in his three years her, the last two as a starter, has averaged 3.9, 3.5 and 3.8 yards per carry. And those numbers have described him perfectly: a solid guy who does the best he can with the talent and opportunities he’s been given. The coaches love him because he does things the right way, (elevating him above the clearly more talented Jordan Fredericks, who was displaced by Strickland and then transferred to UMASS), without dazzling anybody. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to give us much of a running threat, either to sustain drives, finish them or make them unnecessary and that’s a huge reason why our increase in production of yards hasn’t transferred to an increase in points. I’d rate him mediocre at best in the three major qualities I want to see in a runner: power, moves and speed. He probably rates above average in blocking, calling out the blocking schemes, leadership, etc. That’s why he’s been out there.
He has had some good games: 127 yards on 30 carriers vs. South Florida in 2017, 69 yards and a score vs. Virginia Tech that year plus an 84 yard TD pass to Brisely Estime that keyed that year’s big upset. Last year he had consecutive games of 80, 78 and 105 yards vs. Pittsburgh, Clemson and Miami. Those are all good teams but then most of the teams we play are. Two factors to strongly consider for both he and Moe Neal: College players improve each year, (if they work hard), and Strickland and Neal should be better just as part of the maturation process and an improved offensive line can make average backs seem above average, or maybe show us that they weren’t really average backs at all.
Moe Neal came here as a slightly built guy, (5-11 169), with great speed. Most saw him as a hybrid runner-receiver who might transition into a full-time receiver and a dynamic kick returner. In two years, he’s rushed the ball 160 times, caught 14 passes and never returned a kick. Babers was making jokes about Moe “still having his high school body”. He clearly didn’t have the physique for a feature running back but he alternated with Strickland. They might have made an interesting old fashioned full-back halfback combination with Strickland running between the tackles and Neal to the outside and being a pass receiver half the time. But there was never really much of an effort given to put Moe “on an island” with a defender.
His straight-ahead speed enabled him to have an occasional burst into the secondary but not many of those bursts wound up in the end zone. He’s scored four touchdowns in two years and one of them was on a pass. He had enough bursts to average 5.3 yards per carry each of his first two years but that hasn’t been 5.3 yards in each carry. It’s been 20, 30, 40 yard bursts mixed in with a lot of plays that went nowhere.
He’s now bulked up to 191, which might enable him to take the pounding of a feature back. But it also might cost him some of his greatest asset: speed. His has been mostly a straight-line speed, which is why those bursts rarely scored. I’d rate him average on moves and below average on power. Maybe that will change this year. I would love to have seen Fredericks and Strickland alternate at running back while Neal was in the slot but ours is not to reason why….I’ll go with the theory that the less sense a coach’s decision made to a fan, the better the reason for it was, even if we’ll never know it.
Meanwhile we’ve got three guys in the pipeline I would rate above average in power, moves and speed, (as Fredericks was). We know one will not play this year, (Abdul Adams, because he’s an undergrad transfer from Oklahoma and has to sit out this year). The extent to which the others will play is unknown at this time. Obviously injuries could play a role but Strickland and Neal have managed to stay pretty healthy and they have a huge edge in experience at this level and with this offense.
Let’s take a quick look at Adams, who most SU fans still have in the back of their minds, where he’s been since we heard he was transferring here. In two years at Oklahoma he carried the ball 112 times for 825 yards, (7.4 per carry). He rushed for only one touchdown but it was a spectacular one:
Abdul Adams Highlights vs Baylor // 11 Carries for 164 Yards, 1 TD // 9.23.17
He averaged 15 yards a carry in that game and 9.2 for the season. Why did he leave Oklahoma? He says that he was not valued by their running backs coach, who had not recruited him:
Why former 4-star RB Abdul Adams transferred from Oklahoma to Syracuse football
Hopefully, Dino will give him plenty of hugs and he will have a successful career here. Transfers sometimes tend to bring their problems with them. I can’t recall an SU player transferring from here and becoming a star elsewhere. It will be interesting to see how Jordan Fredericks does at UMASS this season after sitting out a year and it will be more interesting and more relevant to see what Abdul Adams does here next year.
But the positon will not be wide open, even if we are not Oklahoma. Neal will be back for his senior year and Markenzie Pierre will be back for his junior year. His season last year was hardly as spectacular as Adams but he did show promise at times and his playing time did decrease after an early mistake. He had 46 yards in 9 carries (5.1) in the opener vs. Central Connecticut but after a fumble early in the Central Michigan game we saw less of him and heard Babers complain that “you have to hold onto to the ball to win”.
So why are people excited about him? Here is his high school highlight tape:
Showtime
Yeah, it’s against high schools kid, although they are Florida high schools kids, where so many of the best prospects are. Still that wasn’t against Clemson or Florida State. But I saw everything I’d like to see in a high school running back’s tape- bursting through holes, bowling over or carrying defenders, breaking their ankles with moves, cutting to the opposite side of the field when there are no opening on his side, outrunning everyone to the goal line, even the guys who were in front of him and clearly had an angle. It’s a skill set beyond anything we’ve seen from Strickland or Neal. Yes, he has to hold onto the ball and he may even need a hug from time to time, (and give one to Adams, too), but he seems like someone you’d want to give the ball to.
And here comes Jarveon Howard, a freshman from Mississippi. He’s called “Baby Bo”:
Jarveon Howard!! Senior Season!!
I don’t know about Bo, but he looks just as good as Pierre and maybe a bit faster. The completion for who will share the spot, (I assume) with Neal next year should be fabulous. Adams, Pierre and Howard are all of a similar size, ((5-11 209, 5-11 217 and 5-10 209) and I think they are similar players, basically Jordan Fredericks X 3. And I think they are all better than what we’ve had the last couple of years. They may have to wait for their turn but their turn should be exciting.
People have suggested that Otto Zaccardo should be our “RUDY”. His first name is also the name of our mascot. Otto the Orange - Wikipedia The fans could shout “We want Otto” at the end of a blow-out, (perhaps a winning one, for a change). He’s gotten into two game in two years playing special teams but “Did not record any statistics”. He’s on the honor roll. Luke Erickson and Jack Guida are redshirt freshmen who walked on last year and are basically Otto’s understudies.
RECEIVERS
Seniors: Ben Brickman 5-8 172 Jamal Custis 6-5 213; Kyle Kleinberg 6-0 237; Ravian Pierce 6-3 244; Juniors: Devin Butler 6-3 194; Sean Riley 5-8 170, Tristan Jackson 6-1 184 Sophomores: Jesse Conners 6-2 225; Tyler Giftus 6-1 199; Aaron Hackett 6-3 228; K. K. Hahn 5-10 167; Nykeim Johnson 5-8 167; Freshmen: James Cherry 5-9 170; Ethan Fischer 6-0 175; Taj Harris 6-2 175; Ed Hendrix 6-3 195; Gabe Horan 6-6 260; Kevin Johnson, Jr. 5-11 190; Sharod Johnson 5-11 174; Cameron Jordan 6-3 202; Andrew Liccardi 5-10 175; Cooper Lutz 6-0 190; Anthony Queeley 6-2 194; Russell Thompson-Bishop 6-1 215
We have to replace two receivers, Steve Ismael and Erv Phillips, who combined to catch 194 passes for 2,256 yards and 11 touchdowns. I hope we don’t. Those two caught 61% of the passes we completed last year. The third place receiver, Devin Butler, had 33 catches, 10%. Ravian Pierce had 29, 9%.The next one was Dontae Strickland, the running back, with 18. In 2016, Amba Etta-Tawo and Phillips, totaled 184 catches, 55%. Ismael and Brisley Estime had 48 each, (14%). Next was Strickland with 21.
They call it a “spread”. The idea is to spread the defense out so you can exploit the holes that develop when they try to cover everyone and everywhere. We’ve had a clear #1 guy and when he’s covered, we dump it off to the clear #2 guy. The other guys have gotten their balls when both were covered or one of them was temporarily on the sidelines. We also focused entirely on the sidelines, even though that’s not Dungey’s best throw and it hardly spread the defense to keep throwing to one side of the field. It almost reminded me of the George DeLeone days, when we’d run the near-side option over and over again. At least that had the point of dragging the defense to one side of the field so we could hit them with the occasional big play to the other side. I’ve seen very little of that these last two years.
What I’d like to see this year is to have 4-5 receivers with 50-60 catches and maybe a couple more with 30-40. And use the whole field, not just the sideline. I recall Ryan Nassib throwing over the middle to Alec Lemon and Marcus Sales in 2012 and really carving up the defense. I also recall the opposing quarterbacks carving us up over the middle, too. Make them cover everyone and the whole field and hit them in the gaps that develop.
A key to this could be Ravian Pierce, a big time JUCO recruit last year who had an up-and-down season. If he develops into a major threat, that could re-focus our attack towards the middle of the field. You rarely see a tight end thrown to at the sideline. Pierce had 29 catches for 263 yards (9.1) and 4 scores.
He’s the second leading returning receiver. The leading returnee is Devin Butler who played last year as Devin C. Butler because we had a defensive back by the same name, (who must have covered his namesake in practice). I’m just calling him Devin Butler this year because there’s only one of him. He’s a converted high school quarterback said to have exceptional athletic ability. He’s got good size (6-3 194). He just hasn’t been consistent or dynamic. He had 33 catches for 327 yards (9.9) and just 1 TD. The only other returning receivers with double figures in catches were Strickland (18r 142y (7.9) 2TDs) and Neal 12r 170 yards (14.2) 2TDs. There’s no returning pure receiver with 10+ catches who averaged that number of yards per catch.
Jamal Custis came here advertised as a player of exceptional size, (6-5 213) and speed, which was reported at one time as 4.3 in the 40 yard dash: I later heard that that was a mistake but Custis is still reputed to be fast for his size. Unfortunately he’s been held back by injuries and perhaps difficulty catching the ball or understanding the offense. Whatever it is, he’s caught only 13 passes in three years for 142 yards (10.9) and 2 scores.
The other end of the scale is 5-8 170 Sean Riley, a water-sprite who is better known as a kick-returner. He averaged a healthy 15.2 on 8 catches last year, including a 44 yarder. His most memorable moment last year was an awful drop in the end zone vs. LSU that could have made a big difference in that game. He just looks so small an fragile out there, like a gust of wind could knock him down. He does use his quickness to find an opening from time to time. He’s had kick-off returns of 68 and 64 yards and a punt return for 34 yards. But he really doesn’t have climax speed: he’s returned 101 kicks, caught 19 passes and run the ball 5 times, (they would have been end arounds) and never yet scored a touchdown for us.
Maybe this year.
As with the quarterback and running back units, there’s some interesting young talent coming up behind the experienced players, although with the receivers their openings for getting playing time are going to be more numerous. One guy who isn’t going to get a shot is Trishton Jackson, who like Abdul Adams, is a highly recruited, (4 stars) transfer from a school whose success we envy, (Michigan State). He had 8 catches for 168 yards in their 2017 spring game but only 12 for 143 in their regular season as he lost his job to Cody White. He had 5 catches for 89 and a score as a freshman. He will have two years of eligibility left. He was considered as high as the 25th best wide receiver in his high school class, (by Scout), although, like Butler, he played quarterback. He a talented athlete who wants to play with Jim Boeheim’s basketball team a as walk-on. Here’s his high school highlight film:
2016 WR/QB Trishton Jackson 2015 season highlight remix
He’s #1: the quarterback. Looks like he could get plenty of YAC – next year.
A lot of people are excited about Russell Thompson-Bishop (RTB) who at 6-1 215 had good size and a lot of strength to fight his way open. He also has excellent speed, as reflected in his averages per catch in high school: overall: 133 receptions for 2,768 yards (20.8 avg.) and 35 touchdowns. As a senior: 41 passes for 728 yards (17.8 avg.) and 11 TDs. He also played basketball and led the state of Connecticut in blocked shots with 4.6. Did I say he was 6-1? Let’s take a look at him playing football in high school:
Syracuse football recruiting: Get to know WR Russell Thompson-Bishop
He looks like the sort of guy quarterbacks love to throw to- a guy who can go up and get it in a crowd and make the QB look good. He’s also the ideal guy to target over the middle.
Johnson and Johnson are a key part of any team – they make band aids. We have Johnson & Johnson and Johnson. Last year we had Nykeim Johnson, who played, and Sharod Johnson who didn’t – he reshirted. They are now joined by Kevin Johnson Jr.- the son of the Kevin Johnson who played for us in the 1990’s and had a distinguished career as a pass receiver, (60 catches as a senior) and kick returner, (4 TDs, including a 100 yarder vs. Wisconsin that famously opened the 1997 season). All three are smallish: Nykeim is Riley-size at 5-8 167, Sharod 5-11 174 and Kevin Jr. 5-11 but a solid 190. All of them should provide plenty of elusiveness and speed. Nykeim had 8 catches but wasn’t able to do much with them (85 yards). He was able to return four kickoffs for 91 yards. “As a senior, caught 75 passes for 1,100 yards and 19 touchdowns … Finished with 165 receptions for 2,700 yards and 34 TDs in his prep career” (Cuse.com) He was ALL_DC area, which is a good area for football prospects Here are his high school highlights:
2017 Athlete
He looks like a speedier version of Riley who can make difficult catches.
We didn’t get to see Sharod Johnson last year but he was the 74th best wide receiver in his class, nationally. He’s from Miami, so you know he faced top-level completion. He had 50 catches for 764 (15.3), yards and seven touchdowns. “Caught six passes for 92 yards and two TDs for the Tornadoes, including the game-winner, in their victory against top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas.” (Cuse.com). Let’s take a look:
LOOSE SCREW !! (Sr.Year)
He looks like a good possession receiver, (usual 100% catch rate in a highlight film), who also has the ability to get past people and make the big play.
Kevin Johnson, Jr. played for “The Hun” school in New Jersey, (do they teach them to conquer and pillage?) and caught 32 passes for 795 yards (24.8!) and seven touchdowns. He then transferred to IMG in Miami, (the sort of place that collects top prospects) “and helped the Ascenders to an 8-0 record and the No. 2 final ranking in the USA Today Super 25 poll” (Cuse.com), where he “mostly played on special teams” per Nunesmagician.com. They have some film of him as a junior:
Get to Know Your Orange Man: #83, WR Kevin Johnson Jr.
It looks like he runs routes really well and has the strength to fight off defenders. With so many Johnson’s, he’s considered a “redshirt” candidate but that new redshirt rule, (they can play up to 4 games), we may see him this year anyway, probably, as at IMG, on special teams. But with his pedigree, he may be a key receiver for us in the future.
Cameron Jordan made the two deep behind Devin Butler as a redshirt freshman. He’s from Long Island and is another big target at 6-3 202. He got three starts from most of the services. “As a senior captain, tallied 22 receptions for 614 yards (27.9!) and 11 touchdowns to lead Half Hollow Hills West to a 9-3 record and the Suffolk Country Division II title … As a junior, had 29 catches for 854 yards (29.4!)” (Cuse.com). Here is his highlight film:
Cameron Jordan Senior Year
So many of these guys wore #1. That may be a good sign. Cam seems like the guy you’d like to throw the deep bomb to several times a game.
Taj Harris is a three star wide receiver prospect out of New Jersey, another good area, (usually way better than New York). He started out as a wide receiver in high school but switched to quarterback and has now switched back. “As a sophomore, caught 51 passes for 1,101 yards and 13 touchdowns … Recorded 990 yards from scrimmage (600 rushing, 390 receiving) and nine touchdowns as a junior, in addition to throwing for 441 yards and seven scores…As a senior quarterback in 2017, Harris accounted for 29 touchdowns and more than 2,300 yards of offense … Passed for 1,550 and 19 touchdowns, while rushing for 979 yards and 10 TDs” (Cuse.com). Quite a versatile football player. Here’s his highlight film:
senior highlights
We’ll have plenty of guys who can throw the pass off the end around: Harris, Butler and (next year) Jackson).
Ed Hendrix is another newcomer people are excited about. He’s another tall receiver at 6-3. He’s another DC kid who is rated 3 stars and the #77 receiver in his high school class by 247sports. “Caught 68 passes for 1,535 yards (22.6 avg.) and 24 touchdowns in three seasons for the Warriors, including 27 receptions for 585 yards (21.7 avg.) and 14 touchdowns as a senior captain.” (Cuse.com). His highlights, (the senior highlights come on after the junior highlights):
JUNIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHT TAPE!!
He looks like a tall target that a quarterback would look for when he needs a completion.
Anthony Queeley is a three star recruit from Florida. “ Caught 73 passes for 1,063 yards (14.6 avg.) and seven touchdowns as a junior … As a senior captain in 2017, made 77 receptions for 1,197 yards (15.5 avg.) and 13 TDs” Nunes: “Put up exactly the type of numbers we’d like to see more of at SU.” Highlights:
Senior Clips Anthony Queeley
Gabe Horan is a three star tight end with great size at 6-6 260. He’s a local kid who played for Baldwinsville. They don’t throw much there: “As a senior, had 12 receptions for 207 yards (17.3 avg.) and two touchdowns, and logged 30 tackles to lead the Bees to an 8-2 record.” (Cuse.com) Nunes thinks he will redshirt and spend a year in the weight and conditioning program but “He’s got the frame that could grow into something special.” He’s quite a blocker, too. His highlight film:
Junior Year Highlights
He’s kind of an old-fashioned tight end but old fashioned can be good. Or might bulk up some more and wind up a tackle.
Aaron Hackett is the back-up to Ravian Pierce and may be his replacement next season if he isn’t recruited over. He played mostly on special teams last year. From last year’s preview: “He was rated 2-3 stars and anywhere from the #31 Y-tight end, (I don’t know what a Y-tight end is), to #101 in the class. "They want me to be a receiving threat downfield, a guy they can get the ball to consistently, as well as be able to stay in and hold my own block." He was coached by former SU tight end Becket Wales.” Nunes this year: “Like most of us reading this, Hackett did not catch a pass in 2017… with the Orange looking to replace a lot of receptions, someone with his athletic ability should get some opportunities.”
Jesse Connors is a tight end who has been in college and never played a down because he red-shirted at Holy Cross in 2016, then transferred to Syracuse, where he had to sit out a year as an undergrad transfer. He was all-New England in 2015 as he “Recorded 88 tackles, seven tackles for loss and six interceptions in his career, in addition to catching 45 passes for 895 yards and six touchdowns.” (Cuse.com). He’s a walk-on here but I have a feeling that we’ll be hearing from him at some point.
Cooper Lutz was a running back in high school but is listed as a wide receiver here. “Rushed for 3,141 yards and 55 touchdowns in his scholastic career … Caught 27 passes for 410 yards (15.2 avg.) and six touchdowns in his four seasons … Totaled 164 career tackles and seven interceptions on defense … As a senior, ran for 1,525 yards and 31 touchdowns.” 247 and ESPN gave him three stars as an “athlete”. Highlights:
2016 Season Highlights
Nunes sees him in the “slot” – but not this year.
K. K. Hahn was a walk-on last year and “didn’t record any statistics”. But he showed up on pre-season depth chart as a back-up wide receiver behind Jamal Custis. They make a Mutt and Jeff combination with Custis being 6-5 and Hahn 5-10. It should be noted that this listing had 4 wide receiver positions along with a quarterback, a running back and five interior linemen. That means that Custis and Hahn would see action when we have an “empty backfield”. I call this the dart-throwing formation. The QB has no protection and no running game, (besides himself) so he basically looks to see who is immediately open and chucks it. I hate it but it can be useful in third and short situations. This listing has Devin Butler, Sean Riley and Nykeim Johnson as the #1 guy at the other four spots, backed up by Cam Jordan, RTB and Sharod Johnson, respectively, (we can take out Johnson and send in Johnson to replace him).
Ethan Fischler is a preferred walk-on who had interesting high school numbers: “Made 120 catches for 1,845 yards (15.4) and 27 touchdowns during his career, including 48 receptions for 644 yards (13.4) and 12 scores as a senior.” (Cuse.com) Andrew Liccardi is another preferred walk on with good numbers: “Licciardi recorded career highs of 82 receptions, 1,239 receiving yards (15.1) and 14 receiving touchdowns over 12 games played as a senior.”
Kyle Kleinberg is listed as a back-up tight end but has played exclusively- and well- on special teams, where he’s made 7 tackles. Ben Brickman is a JUCO walk-on who got to play in the late moments of a 41-17 win over Central Michigan. That type of score will be necessary this year to get him into a game. Tyler Giftus came here as a quarterback but is now listed as a wide-out. He played in that Central Michigan game and also against central Connecticut. James Cherry is a walk-on who decommited form Robert Morris to join us. His Cuse.com bio is presently empty. Late development: Tyler Giftus has left SU and enrolled at Albany.
Ismael and Phillips had 194 catches for just 11 touchdowns. Riley hasn’t scored in two years. We need to get into the end zone a lot more than we do and the news guys could help us do that. Those averages per catch and touchdown totals are far different than what we’ve been getting in Syracuse but the competition here is far greater than what these high school kids have faced.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Seniors: Cody Conway 6-6 296; Keaton Darney 6-3 271; Koda Martin 6-6 304; Aaron Roberts 6-4 292; Juniors: Evan Adams 6-6 326; Colin Byrne 6-5 292; Andrejas Duerig 6-3 308; Sophomores: Mike Clark 6-8 310; Patrick Davis 6-6 318; Sam Heckel 6-4 294; Airon Servais 6-6 293; Freshmen: Austin Chandler 6-4 288; Dakota Davis 6-5 327; Wil Froumy 6-6 290; Ryan Kisselstein 6-6 275; Carlos Vettorello 6-4 283: Qadir White 6-7 334
Last year’s team had a very young line that grew up as the season progressed. They took on the greatest defensive line in the country – Clemson’s- just look at all the magazine covers- and won. They did that without the player who was supposed to be their best player, Aaron Roberts, who had a season ending injury before the season had even begun. He’s back and now we have Koda Martin, Coach Baber’s son-in-law, who transferred here for his senior season after starting for Texas A&M. This promises to be the best offensive line we’ve had since Doug Marrone left six years ago.
Roberts doesn’t lack for confidence: “"We've tasted greatness," Roberts said. "Once you taste that, we feel like we can beat any team -- we don't care who it is... If you beat Clemson, you know what you can do. We can win the national championship. I don't care; I'll say it. We want to go to a bowl game, but I want more than a bowl game. I'm trying to really shock the country. That's what we've been talking about as an offense." Nunes says: “Roberts has bulked up (up almost 30 lbs from this time last year) and will be an anchor on the Syracuse Orange offensive line. His presence will go a long way toward protecting the quarterback, allowing to more traditional quick drop-backs, and hopefully open up a more straight-forward run game.”
Syracuse.com describes Martin as “the marquee addition to the offensive line this season. Babers was asked about starting his son-in-law: "You would until you need to ask the other guys," Babers said. "Because the other guys are out there lifting with him and running with him. If they really had something about it, they'd have come up and said something to me. Some things you just can't hide.”
The projected starting line up in the pre-season chart consists of Martin, a right tackle who has started 14 games at this level and played in 20 more; right guard Evan Adams who has started 21 games and played in 3 others; center Airon Servais, who started 12 games as a freshman last year, left guard Roberts, who has started 12 games and played in 3 more and left tackle Cody Conway, who has started 20 games and played in 7 more. That’s a combined service of 79 starts and 18 other appearances. They average 6-6, (in fact, they are all 6-6, save for Roberts who is 6-4), and 302 pounds per man. That’s actually pretty average size these days, maybe a bit less. But I don’t like 320 pound linemen who should be 300: the saying is “git thar firstest with the moistest”. Getting there first is the important part. If you do that, you’d have the ‘mostest’.
Their back-ups are RT Mike Clark, who has played in 2 games, RG Colin Byrne, who has played in 15, C Keaton Darnley, who has played in 18, LG Sam Heckel who started 12 games as a freshman last year in place of Roberts and LT Patrick Davis, who has played in 8 games. That’s 12 starts and 43 other appearances. These guys average 6-4, 297. Heckle also played center last year behind Servais and could again if Airon was injured. Servais actually came here as a tackle and was going to play there this year with Heckel as the center until Martin arrived. Most of these players can play multiple positons, adding to the depth.
Also on the two deep, even though he’s listed as the third left guard, (behind Roberts and Heckel: the spot that would seem to closed up the tightest) is 6-5 327 Dakota Davis, who redshirted last year. He is, as they say a “beast”: Syracuse.com calls him “a road grader who teammates say sometimes run-blocks defensive players 25 yards downfield”. He told his hometown newspaper: “It’s fun to pancake people and break other people’s will play after play.” That might be a reason why they couldn’t leave him off the two deep.
Another potential “beast” is true freshman Qadir White, a 4 star prospect out of the Bronx. 247sports rate shim the 15th best offensive lineman in his class. At 6-7 334, he could make a difference in any line. We were supposed to have another four star line recruit, Tyrone Sampson but he backed out and went to Fresno State for some reason, (the kid’s from Detroit).
Andrejas Duerig has played in every game the last two seasons on special teams. That will probably continue to be his role this season with all the people ahead of him. The same is true for walk-on Austin Chandler. Carlos Vettorello is a 3 star true freshman who could see some action under the end redshirt rule. Wil Froumy has the same resume. Ryan Kisselstein is a local kid, (Corcoran) who will walk on as a freshman and is unlikely to see much action this year.
Babers: “"I think we've got a base of seven or eight guys who really get it, how physical the game is in the trenches and the way they need to throw their weight around," Babers said at the ACC Kickoff. “Those guys are the elephants and they need to act like elephants, and I think they will."
QUARTERBACKS
Seniors: Eric Dungey 6-4 226; Juniors: Clayton Welch 6-5 235; Sophomores: Rex Culpepper 6-3 223; Freshmen: Tommy DeVito 6-2 211; Chance Amie 6-3 199
Everybody has enormous respect for Eric Dungey. He took over the QB position ten minutes into the first game of his freshman year when his predecessor, Terrel Hunt, went down with an injury. He proved to be an immediate upgrade, showing both poise and competitiveness, (to the point of combativeness: Lamar Jackson lept over an SU defender to score and Eric tried to do the same thing at the other end), as well as the ability to throw a very catchable ball or save a play by taking off and running with the ball. He was our second leading rusher to Jordan Fredericks as a freshman, to Dontae Strickland as a sophomore and led the team last year. On his positive plays, (eliminating the 91 sacks), he’s run for 1,719 yards and 20TDs in 268 carries, an average of 6.4 yard per carry. When he does throw he’s completed 560 of 868 passes (64.5%) for 6,472 yards, (11.6 per completion and 7.5 per attempt) for40 TDs and 21 interceptions. He’s the kind of dual threat quarterback that has always killed us and we’ve got him on our side. He’s one of the best returning QBs in the country.
Beyond that, he’s an inspirational player because of his personality, (he seems to combine being a nice guy with a fiery competitor), and fearless playing style. His impact on the team seems to go beyond just the offense: the whole team sags when he isn’t in there, which is why SU fans hope and pray that he can complete the season this year. And that’s been the problem: it hasn’t happened yet. He played 8 games his first year, 9 his second and 9 last year. It’s a big reason why this team has won only one game in November in his tenure. An improved offensive line and a back-up quarterback who was blue-chip recruit rather than a walk on should help. But Eric always seems to be a play away from having his season end.
He’s not a perfect quarterback. I don’t think he has NFL arm strength or accuracy. He’s a very good college quarterback, (which is all we need him to be). Our offense is predicated on throwing constantly to the sidelines and Eric just doesn’t throw that pass well. He tends to throw it to the inside of the receiver, where the defender can get at it, rather than two the outside, where only his receiver is likely to get his hands on it. Four times last year, Dungey threw an interception on the first SU possession of the game. They were all big games and all on the road: LSU, North Carolina State, Miami and Florida State. We lost all of those games, by an average of 7 points. It might have been a very different season without those picks.
The new back-up, Tommy DeVito does have an NFL arm and accuracy, as testified by anyone who has seen him in practice. I think he’s much more the type of quarterback Dino loves: a guy who will stay in the pocket and pick apart the defense. Coming out of high school, ESPN ranked him 8th among the nation’s pocket passer prospects. He was very impressive in the post-season all-star games: Under Armour, Nike Elite and 7 on 7. He’s considered out best QB recruit since Donovan McNabb.
He could also be the “inspirational” type, as shown by this anecdote from his high school career: “Once, when he was about 16, DeVito stayed at practice to do extra conditioning with a teammate who had fumbled twice that day. DeVito was a backup, but he performed the extra length-of-field sprints on a hot day so his teammate didn’t have to do it alone.” He’s also been working toward this for a long time: “DeVito might not be at Syracuse if not for his mentor and trainer, Leon Clarke. Since he turned 6, DeVito went through rigorous circuits several times per week, including 60 minutes of drop backs and hundreds of throws into hula hoops laid out on a field to target. After a year with Clarke, he knew how to three-step drop and look off safeties. “Much of my 20s was spent with him,” Clarke said. “… He put a lot of his childhood to the side to prepare for what he has today.”
Here’s some highlights from Tommy’s high school career:
QB Tommy DeVito Senior Highlights
The completion percentage is, of course 100%, (it’s a highlight film). I didn’t see a lot of dramatic plays but there were a lot of sideline throws shown and they were thrown to the proper place and with some zip on i8t. My favorite play came when the receivers were covered and he just moved to the side, not to scramble but to buy time, and threw a side-arm pass for a diving completion along the sideline. He’s not immobile. It’s just that he’s always looking to pass first and uses his mobility to create opportunities to complete passes. Dungey scrambles to be a one-man offense.
DeVito must be chomping at the bit after being redshirted his first year. That year allowed him to learn Baber’s offense. If Dungey had already graduated, Tommy would be our starter vs. Western Michigan and we’d be all excited about that. If Dungey goes down again, the DeVito Era, (and I think there will be one), will begin at that point. But how ill Tommy be used before that? Emergencies? Mop-up duty? Or will he share the positon with Dungey, perhaps reducing the chances of losing Dungey to injury? There have been some articles saying that DeVito had “closed the gap between himself and Dungey. Babers: “I think he really closed ground having so many opportunities to work with the No. 1 offense, to work with the No. 1 wide receivers, And that development is going to pay off.” DeVito: “"Coming into my second summer at this, I've been trying to stay calm, learn more of the playbook, really get all of the little things right,"
I think Tommy will create an era of his own, just not right away. And eventually he may prove to be an upgrade even over Dungey.
Rex Culpepper was supposed to be “the next guy”. He was one of Scott Shafer’s last notable recruits and the son of a former NFL player, (Brad, who played tackle, not Dante who played quarterback). He redshirted his first year and played credibly last year, completing 45 of 75 passes (60.0%) for 518 yards (11.5/6.9), although his touchdown to interception ratio was poor, (2 to 3). He was kind of the forgotten man with all the publicity over DeVito until he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in March and underwent 100 hours of chemotherapy. He was declared cancer-free in June. His father was a contestant on “Survivor” and now Rex is a survivor himself. He, too, has the respect of his teammates and will be an option if we need him.
Chance Amie was a surprise recruit from Texas. He had originally committed to Houston but flipped to Syracuse. He’s supposed to have “all the skills you’d want in a quarterback”. Like Dungey he’s a dual-threat type of guy, which also means he could play other positions. He was rated the #28 dual threat QB in his class by 247Sports. But he got an early start here, enrolling in January and participating in spring practice.
His highlight film makes him look like a high school version of Lamar Jackson:
Of course, Ashton Broyld looked like a high school version of Cam Newton. He completed 2 passes in three years here, switching to running back and receiver, where he scored 1TD in those three years. There’s a lot of guys who look gorgeous in high school but don’t make it on the next level for various reasons. But Amie and DeVito seem like the type of prospects we haven’t been getting here in a long time and they and others like them could play a major role in turning things around here.
Clayton Welch is a junior college transfer who passed for 63 yards and a score in the spring game. He is a walk on but a big one at 6-5 235. He was on the roster last year but didn’t play in any games. He put up some good numbers at Butte College in California: “Welch completed 54.4 percent of his passes for 1,325 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions in 12 games played last season. He also ran for 821 yards and 11 scores.” Zach Mahoney saw a lot of action as Dungey’s back-up the last three years after being a JUCO walk-on but it says something for the improved state of the program that Welch will have a hard time seeing the field with all this completion, even if he might have a bit more experience beyond high school.
Actually he looks pretty darn good in the highlight film in this article:
Syracuse football recruiting: 2017 JUCO QB Clayton Welch signs with SU as walk-on
There’s talk that with Welch having another year’s eligibility after this, Culpepper having two and DeVito and Amie having three, we may not recruit a QB in the 2019 class at all. What a change that is from the way things have been here for years.
RUNNING BACKS
Seniors: Dontae Strickland 5-11 204 Juniors: Abdul Adams 5-11 209; Moe Neal 5-11 191; Otto Zaccardo 5-10 206 Sophomores: Markenzy Pierre 5-11 217 Freshmen: Luke Erickson 6-0 211; Jack Guida 6-0 188; Jarveon Howard 5-10 210
This positon looks a lot like the quarterback, except that it’s usually shared by two guys. We have two veteran performers returning but it looks like some greater talents may be coming up behind them who will eventually take over and upgrade the positon. In this case, though, an upgrade is definitely needed. In Dino Babers’ first two seasons, we have finished 115th and 70th in the nation, (of 129 teams) in rushing and last year’s improvement was deceiving as Dungey was our leading rusher, (despite missing the last three games).
Dontae Strickland in his three years her, the last two as a starter, has averaged 3.9, 3.5 and 3.8 yards per carry. And those numbers have described him perfectly: a solid guy who does the best he can with the talent and opportunities he’s been given. The coaches love him because he does things the right way, (elevating him above the clearly more talented Jordan Fredericks, who was displaced by Strickland and then transferred to UMASS), without dazzling anybody. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to give us much of a running threat, either to sustain drives, finish them or make them unnecessary and that’s a huge reason why our increase in production of yards hasn’t transferred to an increase in points. I’d rate him mediocre at best in the three major qualities I want to see in a runner: power, moves and speed. He probably rates above average in blocking, calling out the blocking schemes, leadership, etc. That’s why he’s been out there.
He has had some good games: 127 yards on 30 carriers vs. South Florida in 2017, 69 yards and a score vs. Virginia Tech that year plus an 84 yard TD pass to Brisely Estime that keyed that year’s big upset. Last year he had consecutive games of 80, 78 and 105 yards vs. Pittsburgh, Clemson and Miami. Those are all good teams but then most of the teams we play are. Two factors to strongly consider for both he and Moe Neal: College players improve each year, (if they work hard), and Strickland and Neal should be better just as part of the maturation process and an improved offensive line can make average backs seem above average, or maybe show us that they weren’t really average backs at all.
Moe Neal came here as a slightly built guy, (5-11 169), with great speed. Most saw him as a hybrid runner-receiver who might transition into a full-time receiver and a dynamic kick returner. In two years, he’s rushed the ball 160 times, caught 14 passes and never returned a kick. Babers was making jokes about Moe “still having his high school body”. He clearly didn’t have the physique for a feature running back but he alternated with Strickland. They might have made an interesting old fashioned full-back halfback combination with Strickland running between the tackles and Neal to the outside and being a pass receiver half the time. But there was never really much of an effort given to put Moe “on an island” with a defender.
His straight-ahead speed enabled him to have an occasional burst into the secondary but not many of those bursts wound up in the end zone. He’s scored four touchdowns in two years and one of them was on a pass. He had enough bursts to average 5.3 yards per carry each of his first two years but that hasn’t been 5.3 yards in each carry. It’s been 20, 30, 40 yard bursts mixed in with a lot of plays that went nowhere.
He’s now bulked up to 191, which might enable him to take the pounding of a feature back. But it also might cost him some of his greatest asset: speed. His has been mostly a straight-line speed, which is why those bursts rarely scored. I’d rate him average on moves and below average on power. Maybe that will change this year. I would love to have seen Fredericks and Strickland alternate at running back while Neal was in the slot but ours is not to reason why….I’ll go with the theory that the less sense a coach’s decision made to a fan, the better the reason for it was, even if we’ll never know it.
Meanwhile we’ve got three guys in the pipeline I would rate above average in power, moves and speed, (as Fredericks was). We know one will not play this year, (Abdul Adams, because he’s an undergrad transfer from Oklahoma and has to sit out this year). The extent to which the others will play is unknown at this time. Obviously injuries could play a role but Strickland and Neal have managed to stay pretty healthy and they have a huge edge in experience at this level and with this offense.
Let’s take a quick look at Adams, who most SU fans still have in the back of their minds, where he’s been since we heard he was transferring here. In two years at Oklahoma he carried the ball 112 times for 825 yards, (7.4 per carry). He rushed for only one touchdown but it was a spectacular one:
Abdul Adams Highlights vs Baylor // 11 Carries for 164 Yards, 1 TD // 9.23.17
He averaged 15 yards a carry in that game and 9.2 for the season. Why did he leave Oklahoma? He says that he was not valued by their running backs coach, who had not recruited him:
Why former 4-star RB Abdul Adams transferred from Oklahoma to Syracuse football
Hopefully, Dino will give him plenty of hugs and he will have a successful career here. Transfers sometimes tend to bring their problems with them. I can’t recall an SU player transferring from here and becoming a star elsewhere. It will be interesting to see how Jordan Fredericks does at UMASS this season after sitting out a year and it will be more interesting and more relevant to see what Abdul Adams does here next year.
But the positon will not be wide open, even if we are not Oklahoma. Neal will be back for his senior year and Markenzie Pierre will be back for his junior year. His season last year was hardly as spectacular as Adams but he did show promise at times and his playing time did decrease after an early mistake. He had 46 yards in 9 carries (5.1) in the opener vs. Central Connecticut but after a fumble early in the Central Michigan game we saw less of him and heard Babers complain that “you have to hold onto to the ball to win”.
So why are people excited about him? Here is his high school highlight tape:
Showtime
Yeah, it’s against high schools kid, although they are Florida high schools kids, where so many of the best prospects are. Still that wasn’t against Clemson or Florida State. But I saw everything I’d like to see in a high school running back’s tape- bursting through holes, bowling over or carrying defenders, breaking their ankles with moves, cutting to the opposite side of the field when there are no opening on his side, outrunning everyone to the goal line, even the guys who were in front of him and clearly had an angle. It’s a skill set beyond anything we’ve seen from Strickland or Neal. Yes, he has to hold onto the ball and he may even need a hug from time to time, (and give one to Adams, too), but he seems like someone you’d want to give the ball to.
And here comes Jarveon Howard, a freshman from Mississippi. He’s called “Baby Bo”:
Jarveon Howard!! Senior Season!!
I don’t know about Bo, but he looks just as good as Pierre and maybe a bit faster. The completion for who will share the spot, (I assume) with Neal next year should be fabulous. Adams, Pierre and Howard are all of a similar size, ((5-11 209, 5-11 217 and 5-10 209) and I think they are similar players, basically Jordan Fredericks X 3. And I think they are all better than what we’ve had the last couple of years. They may have to wait for their turn but their turn should be exciting.
People have suggested that Otto Zaccardo should be our “RUDY”. His first name is also the name of our mascot. Otto the Orange - Wikipedia The fans could shout “We want Otto” at the end of a blow-out, (perhaps a winning one, for a change). He’s gotten into two game in two years playing special teams but “Did not record any statistics”. He’s on the honor roll. Luke Erickson and Jack Guida are redshirt freshmen who walked on last year and are basically Otto’s understudies.
RECEIVERS
Seniors: Ben Brickman 5-8 172 Jamal Custis 6-5 213; Kyle Kleinberg 6-0 237; Ravian Pierce 6-3 244; Juniors: Devin Butler 6-3 194; Sean Riley 5-8 170, Tristan Jackson 6-1 184 Sophomores: Jesse Conners 6-2 225; Tyler Giftus 6-1 199; Aaron Hackett 6-3 228; K. K. Hahn 5-10 167; Nykeim Johnson 5-8 167; Freshmen: James Cherry 5-9 170; Ethan Fischer 6-0 175; Taj Harris 6-2 175; Ed Hendrix 6-3 195; Gabe Horan 6-6 260; Kevin Johnson, Jr. 5-11 190; Sharod Johnson 5-11 174; Cameron Jordan 6-3 202; Andrew Liccardi 5-10 175; Cooper Lutz 6-0 190; Anthony Queeley 6-2 194; Russell Thompson-Bishop 6-1 215
We have to replace two receivers, Steve Ismael and Erv Phillips, who combined to catch 194 passes for 2,256 yards and 11 touchdowns. I hope we don’t. Those two caught 61% of the passes we completed last year. The third place receiver, Devin Butler, had 33 catches, 10%. Ravian Pierce had 29, 9%.The next one was Dontae Strickland, the running back, with 18. In 2016, Amba Etta-Tawo and Phillips, totaled 184 catches, 55%. Ismael and Brisley Estime had 48 each, (14%). Next was Strickland with 21.
They call it a “spread”. The idea is to spread the defense out so you can exploit the holes that develop when they try to cover everyone and everywhere. We’ve had a clear #1 guy and when he’s covered, we dump it off to the clear #2 guy. The other guys have gotten their balls when both were covered or one of them was temporarily on the sidelines. We also focused entirely on the sidelines, even though that’s not Dungey’s best throw and it hardly spread the defense to keep throwing to one side of the field. It almost reminded me of the George DeLeone days, when we’d run the near-side option over and over again. At least that had the point of dragging the defense to one side of the field so we could hit them with the occasional big play to the other side. I’ve seen very little of that these last two years.
What I’d like to see this year is to have 4-5 receivers with 50-60 catches and maybe a couple more with 30-40. And use the whole field, not just the sideline. I recall Ryan Nassib throwing over the middle to Alec Lemon and Marcus Sales in 2012 and really carving up the defense. I also recall the opposing quarterbacks carving us up over the middle, too. Make them cover everyone and the whole field and hit them in the gaps that develop.
A key to this could be Ravian Pierce, a big time JUCO recruit last year who had an up-and-down season. If he develops into a major threat, that could re-focus our attack towards the middle of the field. You rarely see a tight end thrown to at the sideline. Pierce had 29 catches for 263 yards (9.1) and 4 scores.
He’s the second leading returning receiver. The leading returnee is Devin Butler who played last year as Devin C. Butler because we had a defensive back by the same name, (who must have covered his namesake in practice). I’m just calling him Devin Butler this year because there’s only one of him. He’s a converted high school quarterback said to have exceptional athletic ability. He’s got good size (6-3 194). He just hasn’t been consistent or dynamic. He had 33 catches for 327 yards (9.9) and just 1 TD. The only other returning receivers with double figures in catches were Strickland (18r 142y (7.9) 2TDs) and Neal 12r 170 yards (14.2) 2TDs. There’s no returning pure receiver with 10+ catches who averaged that number of yards per catch.
Jamal Custis came here advertised as a player of exceptional size, (6-5 213) and speed, which was reported at one time as 4.3 in the 40 yard dash: I later heard that that was a mistake but Custis is still reputed to be fast for his size. Unfortunately he’s been held back by injuries and perhaps difficulty catching the ball or understanding the offense. Whatever it is, he’s caught only 13 passes in three years for 142 yards (10.9) and 2 scores.
The other end of the scale is 5-8 170 Sean Riley, a water-sprite who is better known as a kick-returner. He averaged a healthy 15.2 on 8 catches last year, including a 44 yarder. His most memorable moment last year was an awful drop in the end zone vs. LSU that could have made a big difference in that game. He just looks so small an fragile out there, like a gust of wind could knock him down. He does use his quickness to find an opening from time to time. He’s had kick-off returns of 68 and 64 yards and a punt return for 34 yards. But he really doesn’t have climax speed: he’s returned 101 kicks, caught 19 passes and run the ball 5 times, (they would have been end arounds) and never yet scored a touchdown for us.
Maybe this year.
As with the quarterback and running back units, there’s some interesting young talent coming up behind the experienced players, although with the receivers their openings for getting playing time are going to be more numerous. One guy who isn’t going to get a shot is Trishton Jackson, who like Abdul Adams, is a highly recruited, (4 stars) transfer from a school whose success we envy, (Michigan State). He had 8 catches for 168 yards in their 2017 spring game but only 12 for 143 in their regular season as he lost his job to Cody White. He had 5 catches for 89 and a score as a freshman. He will have two years of eligibility left. He was considered as high as the 25th best wide receiver in his high school class, (by Scout), although, like Butler, he played quarterback. He a talented athlete who wants to play with Jim Boeheim’s basketball team a as walk-on. Here’s his high school highlight film:
2016 WR/QB Trishton Jackson 2015 season highlight remix
He’s #1: the quarterback. Looks like he could get plenty of YAC – next year.
A lot of people are excited about Russell Thompson-Bishop (RTB) who at 6-1 215 had good size and a lot of strength to fight his way open. He also has excellent speed, as reflected in his averages per catch in high school: overall: 133 receptions for 2,768 yards (20.8 avg.) and 35 touchdowns. As a senior: 41 passes for 728 yards (17.8 avg.) and 11 TDs. He also played basketball and led the state of Connecticut in blocked shots with 4.6. Did I say he was 6-1? Let’s take a look at him playing football in high school:
Syracuse football recruiting: Get to know WR Russell Thompson-Bishop
He looks like the sort of guy quarterbacks love to throw to- a guy who can go up and get it in a crowd and make the QB look good. He’s also the ideal guy to target over the middle.
Johnson and Johnson are a key part of any team – they make band aids. We have Johnson & Johnson and Johnson. Last year we had Nykeim Johnson, who played, and Sharod Johnson who didn’t – he reshirted. They are now joined by Kevin Johnson Jr.- the son of the Kevin Johnson who played for us in the 1990’s and had a distinguished career as a pass receiver, (60 catches as a senior) and kick returner, (4 TDs, including a 100 yarder vs. Wisconsin that famously opened the 1997 season). All three are smallish: Nykeim is Riley-size at 5-8 167, Sharod 5-11 174 and Kevin Jr. 5-11 but a solid 190. All of them should provide plenty of elusiveness and speed. Nykeim had 8 catches but wasn’t able to do much with them (85 yards). He was able to return four kickoffs for 91 yards. “As a senior, caught 75 passes for 1,100 yards and 19 touchdowns … Finished with 165 receptions for 2,700 yards and 34 TDs in his prep career” (Cuse.com) He was ALL_DC area, which is a good area for football prospects Here are his high school highlights:
2017 Athlete
He looks like a speedier version of Riley who can make difficult catches.
We didn’t get to see Sharod Johnson last year but he was the 74th best wide receiver in his class, nationally. He’s from Miami, so you know he faced top-level completion. He had 50 catches for 764 (15.3), yards and seven touchdowns. “Caught six passes for 92 yards and two TDs for the Tornadoes, including the game-winner, in their victory against top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas.” (Cuse.com). Let’s take a look:
LOOSE SCREW !! (Sr.Year)
He looks like a good possession receiver, (usual 100% catch rate in a highlight film), who also has the ability to get past people and make the big play.
Kevin Johnson, Jr. played for “The Hun” school in New Jersey, (do they teach them to conquer and pillage?) and caught 32 passes for 795 yards (24.8!) and seven touchdowns. He then transferred to IMG in Miami, (the sort of place that collects top prospects) “and helped the Ascenders to an 8-0 record and the No. 2 final ranking in the USA Today Super 25 poll” (Cuse.com), where he “mostly played on special teams” per Nunesmagician.com. They have some film of him as a junior:
Get to Know Your Orange Man: #83, WR Kevin Johnson Jr.
It looks like he runs routes really well and has the strength to fight off defenders. With so many Johnson’s, he’s considered a “redshirt” candidate but that new redshirt rule, (they can play up to 4 games), we may see him this year anyway, probably, as at IMG, on special teams. But with his pedigree, he may be a key receiver for us in the future.
Cameron Jordan made the two deep behind Devin Butler as a redshirt freshman. He’s from Long Island and is another big target at 6-3 202. He got three starts from most of the services. “As a senior captain, tallied 22 receptions for 614 yards (27.9!) and 11 touchdowns to lead Half Hollow Hills West to a 9-3 record and the Suffolk Country Division II title … As a junior, had 29 catches for 854 yards (29.4!)” (Cuse.com). Here is his highlight film:
Cameron Jordan Senior Year
So many of these guys wore #1. That may be a good sign. Cam seems like the guy you’d like to throw the deep bomb to several times a game.
Taj Harris is a three star wide receiver prospect out of New Jersey, another good area, (usually way better than New York). He started out as a wide receiver in high school but switched to quarterback and has now switched back. “As a sophomore, caught 51 passes for 1,101 yards and 13 touchdowns … Recorded 990 yards from scrimmage (600 rushing, 390 receiving) and nine touchdowns as a junior, in addition to throwing for 441 yards and seven scores…As a senior quarterback in 2017, Harris accounted for 29 touchdowns and more than 2,300 yards of offense … Passed for 1,550 and 19 touchdowns, while rushing for 979 yards and 10 TDs” (Cuse.com). Quite a versatile football player. Here’s his highlight film:
senior highlights
We’ll have plenty of guys who can throw the pass off the end around: Harris, Butler and (next year) Jackson).
Ed Hendrix is another newcomer people are excited about. He’s another tall receiver at 6-3. He’s another DC kid who is rated 3 stars and the #77 receiver in his high school class by 247sports. “Caught 68 passes for 1,535 yards (22.6 avg.) and 24 touchdowns in three seasons for the Warriors, including 27 receptions for 585 yards (21.7 avg.) and 14 touchdowns as a senior captain.” (Cuse.com). His highlights, (the senior highlights come on after the junior highlights):
JUNIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHT TAPE!!
He looks like a tall target that a quarterback would look for when he needs a completion.
Anthony Queeley is a three star recruit from Florida. “ Caught 73 passes for 1,063 yards (14.6 avg.) and seven touchdowns as a junior … As a senior captain in 2017, made 77 receptions for 1,197 yards (15.5 avg.) and 13 TDs” Nunes: “Put up exactly the type of numbers we’d like to see more of at SU.” Highlights:
Senior Clips Anthony Queeley
Gabe Horan is a three star tight end with great size at 6-6 260. He’s a local kid who played for Baldwinsville. They don’t throw much there: “As a senior, had 12 receptions for 207 yards (17.3 avg.) and two touchdowns, and logged 30 tackles to lead the Bees to an 8-2 record.” (Cuse.com) Nunes thinks he will redshirt and spend a year in the weight and conditioning program but “He’s got the frame that could grow into something special.” He’s quite a blocker, too. His highlight film:
Junior Year Highlights
He’s kind of an old-fashioned tight end but old fashioned can be good. Or might bulk up some more and wind up a tackle.
Aaron Hackett is the back-up to Ravian Pierce and may be his replacement next season if he isn’t recruited over. He played mostly on special teams last year. From last year’s preview: “He was rated 2-3 stars and anywhere from the #31 Y-tight end, (I don’t know what a Y-tight end is), to #101 in the class. "They want me to be a receiving threat downfield, a guy they can get the ball to consistently, as well as be able to stay in and hold my own block." He was coached by former SU tight end Becket Wales.” Nunes this year: “Like most of us reading this, Hackett did not catch a pass in 2017… with the Orange looking to replace a lot of receptions, someone with his athletic ability should get some opportunities.”
Jesse Connors is a tight end who has been in college and never played a down because he red-shirted at Holy Cross in 2016, then transferred to Syracuse, where he had to sit out a year as an undergrad transfer. He was all-New England in 2015 as he “Recorded 88 tackles, seven tackles for loss and six interceptions in his career, in addition to catching 45 passes for 895 yards and six touchdowns.” (Cuse.com). He’s a walk-on here but I have a feeling that we’ll be hearing from him at some point.
Cooper Lutz was a running back in high school but is listed as a wide receiver here. “Rushed for 3,141 yards and 55 touchdowns in his scholastic career … Caught 27 passes for 410 yards (15.2 avg.) and six touchdowns in his four seasons … Totaled 164 career tackles and seven interceptions on defense … As a senior, ran for 1,525 yards and 31 touchdowns.” 247 and ESPN gave him three stars as an “athlete”. Highlights:
2016 Season Highlights
Nunes sees him in the “slot” – but not this year.
K. K. Hahn was a walk-on last year and “didn’t record any statistics”. But he showed up on pre-season depth chart as a back-up wide receiver behind Jamal Custis. They make a Mutt and Jeff combination with Custis being 6-5 and Hahn 5-10. It should be noted that this listing had 4 wide receiver positions along with a quarterback, a running back and five interior linemen. That means that Custis and Hahn would see action when we have an “empty backfield”. I call this the dart-throwing formation. The QB has no protection and no running game, (besides himself) so he basically looks to see who is immediately open and chucks it. I hate it but it can be useful in third and short situations. This listing has Devin Butler, Sean Riley and Nykeim Johnson as the #1 guy at the other four spots, backed up by Cam Jordan, RTB and Sharod Johnson, respectively, (we can take out Johnson and send in Johnson to replace him).
Ethan Fischler is a preferred walk-on who had interesting high school numbers: “Made 120 catches for 1,845 yards (15.4) and 27 touchdowns during his career, including 48 receptions for 644 yards (13.4) and 12 scores as a senior.” (Cuse.com) Andrew Liccardi is another preferred walk on with good numbers: “Licciardi recorded career highs of 82 receptions, 1,239 receiving yards (15.1) and 14 receiving touchdowns over 12 games played as a senior.”
Kyle Kleinberg is listed as a back-up tight end but has played exclusively- and well- on special teams, where he’s made 7 tackles. Ben Brickman is a JUCO walk-on who got to play in the late moments of a 41-17 win over Central Michigan. That type of score will be necessary this year to get him into a game. Tyler Giftus came here as a quarterback but is now listed as a wide-out. He played in that Central Michigan game and also against central Connecticut. James Cherry is a walk-on who decommited form Robert Morris to join us. His Cuse.com bio is presently empty. Late development: Tyler Giftus has left SU and enrolled at Albany.
Ismael and Phillips had 194 catches for just 11 touchdowns. Riley hasn’t scored in two years. We need to get into the end zone a lot more than we do and the news guys could help us do that. Those averages per catch and touchdown totals are far different than what we’ve been getting in Syracuse but the competition here is far greater than what these high school kids have faced.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Seniors: Cody Conway 6-6 296; Keaton Darney 6-3 271; Koda Martin 6-6 304; Aaron Roberts 6-4 292; Juniors: Evan Adams 6-6 326; Colin Byrne 6-5 292; Andrejas Duerig 6-3 308; Sophomores: Mike Clark 6-8 310; Patrick Davis 6-6 318; Sam Heckel 6-4 294; Airon Servais 6-6 293; Freshmen: Austin Chandler 6-4 288; Dakota Davis 6-5 327; Wil Froumy 6-6 290; Ryan Kisselstein 6-6 275; Carlos Vettorello 6-4 283: Qadir White 6-7 334
Last year’s team had a very young line that grew up as the season progressed. They took on the greatest defensive line in the country – Clemson’s- just look at all the magazine covers- and won. They did that without the player who was supposed to be their best player, Aaron Roberts, who had a season ending injury before the season had even begun. He’s back and now we have Koda Martin, Coach Baber’s son-in-law, who transferred here for his senior season after starting for Texas A&M. This promises to be the best offensive line we’ve had since Doug Marrone left six years ago.
Roberts doesn’t lack for confidence: “"We've tasted greatness," Roberts said. "Once you taste that, we feel like we can beat any team -- we don't care who it is... If you beat Clemson, you know what you can do. We can win the national championship. I don't care; I'll say it. We want to go to a bowl game, but I want more than a bowl game. I'm trying to really shock the country. That's what we've been talking about as an offense." Nunes says: “Roberts has bulked up (up almost 30 lbs from this time last year) and will be an anchor on the Syracuse Orange offensive line. His presence will go a long way toward protecting the quarterback, allowing to more traditional quick drop-backs, and hopefully open up a more straight-forward run game.”
Syracuse.com describes Martin as “the marquee addition to the offensive line this season. Babers was asked about starting his son-in-law: "You would until you need to ask the other guys," Babers said. "Because the other guys are out there lifting with him and running with him. If they really had something about it, they'd have come up and said something to me. Some things you just can't hide.”
The projected starting line up in the pre-season chart consists of Martin, a right tackle who has started 14 games at this level and played in 20 more; right guard Evan Adams who has started 21 games and played in 3 others; center Airon Servais, who started 12 games as a freshman last year, left guard Roberts, who has started 12 games and played in 3 more and left tackle Cody Conway, who has started 20 games and played in 7 more. That’s a combined service of 79 starts and 18 other appearances. They average 6-6, (in fact, they are all 6-6, save for Roberts who is 6-4), and 302 pounds per man. That’s actually pretty average size these days, maybe a bit less. But I don’t like 320 pound linemen who should be 300: the saying is “git thar firstest with the moistest”. Getting there first is the important part. If you do that, you’d have the ‘mostest’.
Their back-ups are RT Mike Clark, who has played in 2 games, RG Colin Byrne, who has played in 15, C Keaton Darnley, who has played in 18, LG Sam Heckel who started 12 games as a freshman last year in place of Roberts and LT Patrick Davis, who has played in 8 games. That’s 12 starts and 43 other appearances. These guys average 6-4, 297. Heckle also played center last year behind Servais and could again if Airon was injured. Servais actually came here as a tackle and was going to play there this year with Heckel as the center until Martin arrived. Most of these players can play multiple positons, adding to the depth.
Also on the two deep, even though he’s listed as the third left guard, (behind Roberts and Heckel: the spot that would seem to closed up the tightest) is 6-5 327 Dakota Davis, who redshirted last year. He is, as they say a “beast”: Syracuse.com calls him “a road grader who teammates say sometimes run-blocks defensive players 25 yards downfield”. He told his hometown newspaper: “It’s fun to pancake people and break other people’s will play after play.” That might be a reason why they couldn’t leave him off the two deep.
Another potential “beast” is true freshman Qadir White, a 4 star prospect out of the Bronx. 247sports rate shim the 15th best offensive lineman in his class. At 6-7 334, he could make a difference in any line. We were supposed to have another four star line recruit, Tyrone Sampson but he backed out and went to Fresno State for some reason, (the kid’s from Detroit).
Andrejas Duerig has played in every game the last two seasons on special teams. That will probably continue to be his role this season with all the people ahead of him. The same is true for walk-on Austin Chandler. Carlos Vettorello is a 3 star true freshman who could see some action under the end redshirt rule. Wil Froumy has the same resume. Ryan Kisselstein is a local kid, (Corcoran) who will walk on as a freshman and is unlikely to see much action this year.
Babers: “"I think we've got a base of seven or eight guys who really get it, how physical the game is in the trenches and the way they need to throw their weight around," Babers said at the ACC Kickoff. “Those guys are the elephants and they need to act like elephants, and I think they will."
