SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 32,475
- Like
- 62,638
Before look at individual personnel at each position, I’m going to summarize my sources of information.
The first is my own observations from what I’ve seen of their play at this level and whatever can be glommed from high school highlight films. There I focus on players who play with the ball in their hands as it’s harder for the average fan to evaluate anything else. You try to judge arm strength, field vision, power, speed, moves and hands as best you can, always considering that you are watching players in their mid-teens, not college level players defending them.
On the internet, I always check Nunesmagician but also Syracuse.com, OrangeFizz, SU Juice, SI, Cuse.com and, of course, Syracusefan.com.
Each year I get 2-3 different pre-season magazines to get different views. I’ve been a Street and Smiths guy for decades and even bought some vintage ones dating back to the early 50’s. It creates quite a history of college football. I’ve come to like Athlon and Lindy’s very much as well. This year I could find none of them. What I did find was Phil Steele’s magazine, which Brent Axe had enthusiastically endorsed, claiming that it was vastly superior to Athlon and Lindys, (Street and Smith’s doesn’t seem to have one this year). Brent was about to interview Steele, which he does each year. It might have been a compensated endorsement.
So I bought Steele’s rag and was glad it was recyclable. It’s so densely packed with verbiage it looks like the classified section of a newspaper. It’s written almost in code with so many abbreviations they needed a glossary at the beginning of the volume to explain them. Reading it is like reading a stock market ticker, (do they still have those?). I assumed as I looked at it that there must be a tremendous amount of useful information in it. Then I read this summary of Rutgers’ quarterback situation:
“Three QB’s combined for just 116 pass ypg in ’17. In ’18 Arthur Sitkowski (PS#11) became the first true frosh QB starter here s/11 (Gary Nova) and threw for 1,158(49%), 4-16) His 76.4 pass and 18 int’s were both the worst in FBS. In ’19 they added running QB Johnny Langan (BC trans) McLane Carter (TT trans) was OFY after 2 starts. Sitkowski started two then announced he was going to RS (44-68-429-1-2). Langan (awkward throwing motion) took over. He became the first RU QB to top 100 yards rushing since 1961 (Sam Mudie). Langan threw for 840 (105 ypg, 50.3%, 4-9) in his 8 starts (#2 rush 391, 2.9). Last year they added Nebraska transfer Noah Vedral. Vedral started seven and threw for 1,253 (61.5%n 9-8) Sitkoweski led wins vs. Purdue and Maryland and threw for 444 (64%, 3-0) in two starts. Langan hit 10-13 passes while rushing 56 times (201 ,3.6). This year they lose Sitkowski but could add a transfer QB again. RU’s 199 ypg passing was their best in five years and should improve again.”
Why do I need to know how many yards Rutgers threw for per game in 2017? Why do I need to know the name of the Rutgers starting QB in 2011, or that Sam Mudie ran for 100 yards in 1961? Why do I need to know of the accomplishments of Artur Sitkowski, who is no longer there? I’m very sorry about McLane Carter’s 2018 injury. Steele projects not just the starting line-ups or the 2-deep but often the 4 or 5 deep. Do I need to know who Rutgers’ 4th or 5th stringer is? In this case he projects Vedral to be the 1st stringer and Langan to be the 4th stringer. The 2nd and 3rd stringers are two guys Steele hasn’t even mentioned, Evan Simon and Cole Snyder. The stats are easy to look up so what we really learned was that Rutgers’ 4th string quarterback has a bad throwing motion but can run the ball.
I was able to get Athlon and Lindy’s off the internet. Here is how they described the Rutgers’ quarterback situation.
Athlon: “The two-deep in Rutgers’ season finale returns virtually intact, including quarterback Noah Vedral. The Nebraska transfer seized the Scarlet Knight’s marquee position in training camp, then went out and completed 61.5% of his passes in 2020. “He’s really efficient at running our offense and there’s a lot that goes into it that you don’t see, in addition to throwing.” They have Langan as second string in their two deep.
Lindy’s: “Quarterback Noah Vedral is back, (61.1%) 1,253 yards, 9 TDs, 8 picks) but he’ll be pushed by redshirt freshman Evan Simon.” 61.5% is the correct figure. Lindy’s only gave Rutgers one page, Athlon two.
Athlon and Lindy’s have at least as much useful information and they are written in plain English. They also have last season’s basic team offensive and defensive numbers, along with the national rankings, which I like to quote. Steele actually has the offensive and defense averages for the last 7 years, if you need that, but not the rankings. Athlon and Lindy’s also have a much more pleasing format with larger pictures and the information organized in easily readable charts. They are all I need, when it comes to magazines.
The one thing in Steele’s that interested me was that PS #11 after Arthur Sitkowski’s name. Steele explains it this way: “PS# is my own ranking of players at their respective positions coming out of high school or their junior college….I do not scout high school games or players since my coverage of college football consumes all 52 weeks out of the year. Rather I compile my own PS#’s based on a composite ranking generated with the aid of many recruiting services across the country.” He lists 24/7 (Scout), Rivals, ESPN, Tom Lemming, JC Football (247), JC Gridiron (Rivals), Kohl’s Kicking Camps, Chris Sailer and Chris Rubio. I was already checking the 247 composite ratings for each of SU’s players and I compared them to their PS#, (he has them for his 3-4-5 deep and the recruiting classes) and there was quite a difference, with the PS# usually much larger. I decided to post both of them for fun. Of course, any high school rating is a snapshot of a player at a particular point in time and an opinion at that. Garrett Williams was PS# 362, 247 #171. He’s turned out to be a bit better than that. For some more run, I decided to add up the PS# for Steele’s projected starting line-=up for SU and for each opponent to compare them. It might give us a true picture of the talent difference. Or not….
QUARTERBACKS
Seniors: none
Juniors: #13 Tommy DeVito 6-3 215
Sophomores: #16 Garret Shrader 6-4 230
Freshman: #10 Justin Lamson 6-3 220, #18 Luke MacPhail 6-4 230, #11 Dillon Markiewicz was 6-3 220, now 6-5 230, #15 JaCobian Morgan 6-4 225
GONE:
Rex Culpepper, who was at one time thought to be Dungey’s eventual replacement until he got sidetracked by testicular cancer, which he overcame and the arrival of DeVito, which he did not. At one point they were switching Rex to tight end. But they decided they needed him back at QB. He proved to be erratic at best. He had a couple of long completions, could scramble a bit and provided some veteran leadership but just wasn’t an ACC-level quarterback. Under Covid rules, he could have come back for another year but did not.
David Summers, who looked promising in his tape but never played, transferred to Connecticut.
Drew Gunther, a preferred walk -on who also never played, transferred to Bowling Green, the “player to be named later” in the Dino Babers trade, presumably.
DeVito was Dino’s first quarterback recruit after he came here and was obviously the guy he felt could be his Jimmy Garoppolo or Matt Johnson here. I predicted that once he took over the reins from Eric Dungey, who was fine all—around quarterback and leader but not a great passer, that DeVito, who had the reputation from practice of having he strongest and most accurate arm on the team from the moment he showed up, would re-write the SU record book. Well the ink is still dry on the record book. The big problem was that he was playing in front of a Swiss cheese line that has allowed 88 sacks in two years, the most in the country. Look at the Super Bowl: Kansas City, with both starting tackles out, couldn’t protect Patrick Mahomes. Tampa Bay could protect Tom Brady, old enough to be Pat’s father, who was his daddy in a 31-9 rout.
We haven’t really seen what Tommy can do because we haven’t protected him. But we have seen what he can’t do. He’s not a good scrambler, has trouble reading the pressure and can’t throw effectively on the run. His greatest strength is also his biggest weakness: he has a phobia about turning the ball over and gives up on plays when they go bad, (as they often do), throwing the ball out of bounds or running out of bounds with it. In our early games last year, we were consistently still in the games going into the fourth quarter because we avoided turnovers. The defense would then sag because they’d been on the field too long. When Tommy got hurt, Rex Culpepper and JaCobian both tended to have a run of 2-3 turnovers in a row earlier in the game that would take us hopelessly out of it. But Tommy gave up on plays that might have still had some potential. He couldn’t improvise. We often punted when, under a more dynamic QB, we’d have still been driving down the field – if we still had the ball, that is.. Tommy can run the ball on designed draws: he had a 60-yard TD run in 2019. But he’s not a consistent running threat the way Dungey, who ran the ball as if he was a fullback, was. With Tommy in there, virtually the whole running game has to come out of the one running back position. If our offensive line becomes a strength, Tommy could make this offense sing. If not, we might be better off with somebody else. Athlon: “DeVito has faced a constant stream of pressure in the last two years and, barring a massive turnaround up front and quicker decision-making by DeVito, that will continue in some fashion”. (Actually, Tommy’s decisions to throw or run the ball out of bounds were made pretty quickly.)
Per Phil Steele, Tommy was the #35 quarterback recruit in the country when he came here. 247 had him the #13 pro-style QB. 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. Here are his 2018/2019 highlights, (I could not find a 2020 highlight clip but it wouldn’t have lasted long):
(4) Syracuse QB Tommy DeVito Top Plays 2018 - YouTube
(4) Syracuse QB Tommy DeVito Highlight Reel - 2019 Season | Stadium - YouTube
Shrader, like DeVito was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school and we don’t get a lot of them. We didn’t get this one either. He went to Mississippi State and played extensively his freshman year there. Phil Steele rated him #23 coming out of high school, higher than Tommy, (rankings are more specific than stars). 247 had him the #7 dual-threat QB. He apparently left MSU because of a coaching change. He wasn’t the type of passer Mike Leach was looking for, which is interesting, because I think Dino Babers would want the same kind of quarterback as Leach. Shrader’s presence here thus suggests dissatisfaction with DeVito. Athlon: “Shrader faces an uphill battle to take the mantle from DeVito this offseason. But his mobility and knack for playmaking could well come in handy once the games begin.”
Watch the highlight film below, which is interesting since it’s “most of” his plays at MSU – the college level - and thus includes his bad plays as well as his good plays. What I see is an aggressive, confident, tough runner with a Dungey-like penchant for leaving his feet or lowering his shoulder. He loves to pull the ball away from the running back and run right up the middle, into the teeth of the defense. But defenses can adjust to that and some of his determined runs end at the line of scrimmage. He takes a lot of big hits, which can end a season pre-maturely. But DeVito stays in the pocket and he hasn’t been on the field at the end of the last two seasons. He also showed a tendency to make unexpected laterals to try to extend plays. He has a good arm and sees the whole field – but not everything in it. He isn’t afraid to throw into coverage and there’s one play where he throws the ball right to a linebacker, much as DeVito famously did in the 2018 UNC comeback. Fortunately it was dropped. But others weren’t. Still, he made some nice sideline throws and showed he can throw on the run. He’ll be an exciting player but sometimes it’s the other team’s fans that will be excited. People had said that he reminds them of Eric Dungey and I can see the resemblance. He might also be a Troy Nunes, who was famous for making both great and terrible plays. In Nunes’ case, the terrible plays out-numbered the great ones. But he got a website named after him ”Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician”, after a comment once made by a broadcaster. Maybe Garrett Schrader will have a website named after him someday, too. I hope it’s a fun watch for SU fans.
(6) Most of Garrett Shrader's pass and run attempts at Mississippi State - YouTube
Lamson is a true freshman recruit who also reminds people of Dungey. (We used to look for the next Donovan McNabb. Now we look for the next Eric Dungey. Steele lists him as the #78 QB recruit in the country but says nothing beyond that. 247, (which has him as the 63rd best QB recruit, with no distinction between type of QB): “Versatile athlete, was an all-state safety early in career before taking over the reins at quarterback. Strong build, fluid athlete and can run, with good pocket awareness and knowing when to tuck and run or stand tall in the pocket. Can throw on the run. Good job going through progressions and can make all the throws, short, intermediate and deep. As he gets more starting reps should really flourish.” They list him as a 3-star, which leaves open the question of how many stars he would have if he went to say, Southern Cal, (he’s a California kid). He had no senior season in high school due to Covid and enrolled early art SU so he’s had spring as well as fall practice. Babers: “Justin has done some things that are unique in spring ball and some things that are very predictable for a guy that’s supposed to be getting ready to go to his prom in Disneyland.”
Here is a more detailed review of his skills from SI:
Syracuse Orange Football Recruit of the Week: Justin Lamson - Sports Illustrated Syracuse Orange News, Analysis and More
Here is his high school highlight film:
(6) Justin Lamson Highlights | 2021 Signing Class - YouTube
It’s similar to Shraders except it’s against high school competion and any bad plays are edited out. I do sense that Lamson might be a little more likely than Shrader to keep pass plays going as long as possible before tucking the ball and running.
MacPhail was a preferred walk-on last year who saw no action. I said this in last year’s preview:
“…a ‘pro-style quarterback’. He was “the fifth most productive passer in Massachusetts history in touchdowns (85) and yards (7,195)” and the “All-New England Player of the Year”, which sounds pretty good to me. Here are his highlights:
He’s got good size, can make all the throws, can scramble to buy time and throw on the run and runs the ball with determination and some speed. I like how his long throws have some air under them and gives his receivers time to run under them. He also hits guys in stride. What more do you want?”
He probably wants to play and may go the way of Drew Gunther, (see below). Steele doesn’t mention him and 247 doesn’t rate him. But with the transfer portal wide-open there may be a lot of guys missing next year and if McPhail holds the fort, he could find himself much more prominent on the depth chart. His tape certainly looks better than Gunther’s did and we’ve had a couple of walk-on QB’s in the past: Cameron Dantley in the G-Rob era and Zach Mahoney more recently. If we had to play a walk-on that would not be a good sign but Mahoney played amazingly well against teams like LSU and Clemson. MacPhail could be that kind of player for us.
To most fan’s eyes, Markiewicz looked like the best of last year’s recruits, looking at his high school highlight film. Thus it was a surprise, when both DeVito and Culpepper were hurt last year, to see the coaches, who know more about these things and observed the players in practice, send JaCobian Morgan in rather than Markiewicz. Dillon eventually got into a couple of games in mop-up duty and attempted one pass that was incomplete. Steele doesn’t mention him. 247 had him as a 3-star and the 69th best ‘pro-style’ QB. Here’s what I said about him last year: “Markiewicz completed 72 percent of his passes for 4,187 yards, 45 touchdowns and 6 interceptions during his senior season. He also ran for 7en scores” (Syracuse.com) I’ll take that, thank you. We out-recruited Boise State to get him, which says something about his ability. Here are his senior highlights:
Senior Season Highlights (12 Games)
I like his mobility, his ability to make decisions and throw on the run and his quick release.”
Morgan, both in his high school highlight film and on the field for SU, reminded me of the type of QB we had early in the century, when the program started to decline: the guys we had to go with because we didn’t get Michael Vick. Nunes was one but I’m talking about Madei Williams, R.J. Anderson and Perry Patterson. they could all play the game but did so at a maddeningly slow pace. They seemed to be going in s…l…o..w…m…o..t…i..o..n. Morgan was big, strong kid who could stake a hit and still be standing there. He could also run, or lumber, with the ball and throw on the run, which excited fans because DeVito’s inability to do that had become noticeable to everyone. But he had trouble reading the field and the game just seemed to be going too fast for him. Here’s what I said about him last year: “He was ranked the #79 pro-style QB recruit. (Steele has him #172). “As a senior, threw for 2,487 yards and accounted for 30 touchdowns (27 passing, 3 rushing)”, (Cuse.com). ““Jacobian is a born leader,” (his coach Calvin) Bolton said. “Outstanding QB with a strong arm. He’s very knowledgeable at this position. Syracuse found a diamond in the rough.” His highlights:
Jacobian Morgan Senior QB
He’s good at throwing the long ball and giving his receivers a chance to run under it. His short passes have a bit of a loop too them, as well, which is not always a good thing. The pace of the offense seemed a little slower than with Markiewicz, who looks like had has a better fastball. I didn’t see a lot of running in this clip.”
When Dino sent in Morgan, it was painfully obvious that he wasn’t ready to perform at this level and he was questioned as to why his staff hadn’t better prepared Morgan for the job, considering our recent record of losing quarterbacks before the end of seasons. Dino replied that there’s only so much practice time and that they have to focus on the top two guys, (not the guy who will become one of the top two guys if there is an injury). Dino also complains that other coaches have more assistants than he. I wonder if that could be a factor. But it may be that DeVito and Shrader will get the full attention of the coaching staff this year and Lamson, MacPhail, Markiewicz and Morgan will be on their own. They will be expected to “wait their turn”. But does anybody do that anymore?
Update: Dino said in his 8/17 press conference that for the first time ever, his staff is working with a first second and third team, not just the top two guy. He warned that it was temporary because of the increased depth due to the Covid rules and that other schools have the same advantage. But it means that the guys beyond DeVito and Schrader are competing for that third spot.
The first is my own observations from what I’ve seen of their play at this level and whatever can be glommed from high school highlight films. There I focus on players who play with the ball in their hands as it’s harder for the average fan to evaluate anything else. You try to judge arm strength, field vision, power, speed, moves and hands as best you can, always considering that you are watching players in their mid-teens, not college level players defending them.
On the internet, I always check Nunesmagician but also Syracuse.com, OrangeFizz, SU Juice, SI, Cuse.com and, of course, Syracusefan.com.
Each year I get 2-3 different pre-season magazines to get different views. I’ve been a Street and Smiths guy for decades and even bought some vintage ones dating back to the early 50’s. It creates quite a history of college football. I’ve come to like Athlon and Lindy’s very much as well. This year I could find none of them. What I did find was Phil Steele’s magazine, which Brent Axe had enthusiastically endorsed, claiming that it was vastly superior to Athlon and Lindys, (Street and Smith’s doesn’t seem to have one this year). Brent was about to interview Steele, which he does each year. It might have been a compensated endorsement.
So I bought Steele’s rag and was glad it was recyclable. It’s so densely packed with verbiage it looks like the classified section of a newspaper. It’s written almost in code with so many abbreviations they needed a glossary at the beginning of the volume to explain them. Reading it is like reading a stock market ticker, (do they still have those?). I assumed as I looked at it that there must be a tremendous amount of useful information in it. Then I read this summary of Rutgers’ quarterback situation:
“Three QB’s combined for just 116 pass ypg in ’17. In ’18 Arthur Sitkowski (PS#11) became the first true frosh QB starter here s/11 (Gary Nova) and threw for 1,158(49%), 4-16) His 76.4 pass and 18 int’s were both the worst in FBS. In ’19 they added running QB Johnny Langan (BC trans) McLane Carter (TT trans) was OFY after 2 starts. Sitkowski started two then announced he was going to RS (44-68-429-1-2). Langan (awkward throwing motion) took over. He became the first RU QB to top 100 yards rushing since 1961 (Sam Mudie). Langan threw for 840 (105 ypg, 50.3%, 4-9) in his 8 starts (#2 rush 391, 2.9). Last year they added Nebraska transfer Noah Vedral. Vedral started seven and threw for 1,253 (61.5%n 9-8) Sitkoweski led wins vs. Purdue and Maryland and threw for 444 (64%, 3-0) in two starts. Langan hit 10-13 passes while rushing 56 times (201 ,3.6). This year they lose Sitkowski but could add a transfer QB again. RU’s 199 ypg passing was their best in five years and should improve again.”
Why do I need to know how many yards Rutgers threw for per game in 2017? Why do I need to know the name of the Rutgers starting QB in 2011, or that Sam Mudie ran for 100 yards in 1961? Why do I need to know of the accomplishments of Artur Sitkowski, who is no longer there? I’m very sorry about McLane Carter’s 2018 injury. Steele projects not just the starting line-ups or the 2-deep but often the 4 or 5 deep. Do I need to know who Rutgers’ 4th or 5th stringer is? In this case he projects Vedral to be the 1st stringer and Langan to be the 4th stringer. The 2nd and 3rd stringers are two guys Steele hasn’t even mentioned, Evan Simon and Cole Snyder. The stats are easy to look up so what we really learned was that Rutgers’ 4th string quarterback has a bad throwing motion but can run the ball.
I was able to get Athlon and Lindy’s off the internet. Here is how they described the Rutgers’ quarterback situation.
Athlon: “The two-deep in Rutgers’ season finale returns virtually intact, including quarterback Noah Vedral. The Nebraska transfer seized the Scarlet Knight’s marquee position in training camp, then went out and completed 61.5% of his passes in 2020. “He’s really efficient at running our offense and there’s a lot that goes into it that you don’t see, in addition to throwing.” They have Langan as second string in their two deep.
Lindy’s: “Quarterback Noah Vedral is back, (61.1%) 1,253 yards, 9 TDs, 8 picks) but he’ll be pushed by redshirt freshman Evan Simon.” 61.5% is the correct figure. Lindy’s only gave Rutgers one page, Athlon two.
Athlon and Lindy’s have at least as much useful information and they are written in plain English. They also have last season’s basic team offensive and defensive numbers, along with the national rankings, which I like to quote. Steele actually has the offensive and defense averages for the last 7 years, if you need that, but not the rankings. Athlon and Lindy’s also have a much more pleasing format with larger pictures and the information organized in easily readable charts. They are all I need, when it comes to magazines.
The one thing in Steele’s that interested me was that PS #11 after Arthur Sitkowski’s name. Steele explains it this way: “PS# is my own ranking of players at their respective positions coming out of high school or their junior college….I do not scout high school games or players since my coverage of college football consumes all 52 weeks out of the year. Rather I compile my own PS#’s based on a composite ranking generated with the aid of many recruiting services across the country.” He lists 24/7 (Scout), Rivals, ESPN, Tom Lemming, JC Football (247), JC Gridiron (Rivals), Kohl’s Kicking Camps, Chris Sailer and Chris Rubio. I was already checking the 247 composite ratings for each of SU’s players and I compared them to their PS#, (he has them for his 3-4-5 deep and the recruiting classes) and there was quite a difference, with the PS# usually much larger. I decided to post both of them for fun. Of course, any high school rating is a snapshot of a player at a particular point in time and an opinion at that. Garrett Williams was PS# 362, 247 #171. He’s turned out to be a bit better than that. For some more run, I decided to add up the PS# for Steele’s projected starting line-=up for SU and for each opponent to compare them. It might give us a true picture of the talent difference. Or not….
QUARTERBACKS
Seniors: none
Juniors: #13 Tommy DeVito 6-3 215
Sophomores: #16 Garret Shrader 6-4 230
Freshman: #10 Justin Lamson 6-3 220, #18 Luke MacPhail 6-4 230, #11 Dillon Markiewicz was 6-3 220, now 6-5 230, #15 JaCobian Morgan 6-4 225
GONE:
Rex Culpepper, who was at one time thought to be Dungey’s eventual replacement until he got sidetracked by testicular cancer, which he overcame and the arrival of DeVito, which he did not. At one point they were switching Rex to tight end. But they decided they needed him back at QB. He proved to be erratic at best. He had a couple of long completions, could scramble a bit and provided some veteran leadership but just wasn’t an ACC-level quarterback. Under Covid rules, he could have come back for another year but did not.
David Summers, who looked promising in his tape but never played, transferred to Connecticut.
Drew Gunther, a preferred walk -on who also never played, transferred to Bowling Green, the “player to be named later” in the Dino Babers trade, presumably.
DeVito was Dino’s first quarterback recruit after he came here and was obviously the guy he felt could be his Jimmy Garoppolo or Matt Johnson here. I predicted that once he took over the reins from Eric Dungey, who was fine all—around quarterback and leader but not a great passer, that DeVito, who had the reputation from practice of having he strongest and most accurate arm on the team from the moment he showed up, would re-write the SU record book. Well the ink is still dry on the record book. The big problem was that he was playing in front of a Swiss cheese line that has allowed 88 sacks in two years, the most in the country. Look at the Super Bowl: Kansas City, with both starting tackles out, couldn’t protect Patrick Mahomes. Tampa Bay could protect Tom Brady, old enough to be Pat’s father, who was his daddy in a 31-9 rout.
We haven’t really seen what Tommy can do because we haven’t protected him. But we have seen what he can’t do. He’s not a good scrambler, has trouble reading the pressure and can’t throw effectively on the run. His greatest strength is also his biggest weakness: he has a phobia about turning the ball over and gives up on plays when they go bad, (as they often do), throwing the ball out of bounds or running out of bounds with it. In our early games last year, we were consistently still in the games going into the fourth quarter because we avoided turnovers. The defense would then sag because they’d been on the field too long. When Tommy got hurt, Rex Culpepper and JaCobian both tended to have a run of 2-3 turnovers in a row earlier in the game that would take us hopelessly out of it. But Tommy gave up on plays that might have still had some potential. He couldn’t improvise. We often punted when, under a more dynamic QB, we’d have still been driving down the field – if we still had the ball, that is.. Tommy can run the ball on designed draws: he had a 60-yard TD run in 2019. But he’s not a consistent running threat the way Dungey, who ran the ball as if he was a fullback, was. With Tommy in there, virtually the whole running game has to come out of the one running back position. If our offensive line becomes a strength, Tommy could make this offense sing. If not, we might be better off with somebody else. Athlon: “DeVito has faced a constant stream of pressure in the last two years and, barring a massive turnaround up front and quicker decision-making by DeVito, that will continue in some fashion”. (Actually, Tommy’s decisions to throw or run the ball out of bounds were made pretty quickly.)
Per Phil Steele, Tommy was the #35 quarterback recruit in the country when he came here. 247 had him the #13 pro-style QB. 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. Here are his 2018/2019 highlights, (I could not find a 2020 highlight clip but it wouldn’t have lasted long):
(4) Syracuse QB Tommy DeVito Top Plays 2018 - YouTube
(4) Syracuse QB Tommy DeVito Highlight Reel - 2019 Season | Stadium - YouTube
Shrader, like DeVito was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school and we don’t get a lot of them. We didn’t get this one either. He went to Mississippi State and played extensively his freshman year there. Phil Steele rated him #23 coming out of high school, higher than Tommy, (rankings are more specific than stars). 247 had him the #7 dual-threat QB. He apparently left MSU because of a coaching change. He wasn’t the type of passer Mike Leach was looking for, which is interesting, because I think Dino Babers would want the same kind of quarterback as Leach. Shrader’s presence here thus suggests dissatisfaction with DeVito. Athlon: “Shrader faces an uphill battle to take the mantle from DeVito this offseason. But his mobility and knack for playmaking could well come in handy once the games begin.”
Watch the highlight film below, which is interesting since it’s “most of” his plays at MSU – the college level - and thus includes his bad plays as well as his good plays. What I see is an aggressive, confident, tough runner with a Dungey-like penchant for leaving his feet or lowering his shoulder. He loves to pull the ball away from the running back and run right up the middle, into the teeth of the defense. But defenses can adjust to that and some of his determined runs end at the line of scrimmage. He takes a lot of big hits, which can end a season pre-maturely. But DeVito stays in the pocket and he hasn’t been on the field at the end of the last two seasons. He also showed a tendency to make unexpected laterals to try to extend plays. He has a good arm and sees the whole field – but not everything in it. He isn’t afraid to throw into coverage and there’s one play where he throws the ball right to a linebacker, much as DeVito famously did in the 2018 UNC comeback. Fortunately it was dropped. But others weren’t. Still, he made some nice sideline throws and showed he can throw on the run. He’ll be an exciting player but sometimes it’s the other team’s fans that will be excited. People had said that he reminds them of Eric Dungey and I can see the resemblance. He might also be a Troy Nunes, who was famous for making both great and terrible plays. In Nunes’ case, the terrible plays out-numbered the great ones. But he got a website named after him ”Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician”, after a comment once made by a broadcaster. Maybe Garrett Schrader will have a website named after him someday, too. I hope it’s a fun watch for SU fans.
(6) Most of Garrett Shrader's pass and run attempts at Mississippi State - YouTube
Lamson is a true freshman recruit who also reminds people of Dungey. (We used to look for the next Donovan McNabb. Now we look for the next Eric Dungey. Steele lists him as the #78 QB recruit in the country but says nothing beyond that. 247, (which has him as the 63rd best QB recruit, with no distinction between type of QB): “Versatile athlete, was an all-state safety early in career before taking over the reins at quarterback. Strong build, fluid athlete and can run, with good pocket awareness and knowing when to tuck and run or stand tall in the pocket. Can throw on the run. Good job going through progressions and can make all the throws, short, intermediate and deep. As he gets more starting reps should really flourish.” They list him as a 3-star, which leaves open the question of how many stars he would have if he went to say, Southern Cal, (he’s a California kid). He had no senior season in high school due to Covid and enrolled early art SU so he’s had spring as well as fall practice. Babers: “Justin has done some things that are unique in spring ball and some things that are very predictable for a guy that’s supposed to be getting ready to go to his prom in Disneyland.”
Here is a more detailed review of his skills from SI:
Syracuse Orange Football Recruit of the Week: Justin Lamson - Sports Illustrated Syracuse Orange News, Analysis and More
Here is his high school highlight film:
(6) Justin Lamson Highlights | 2021 Signing Class - YouTube
It’s similar to Shraders except it’s against high school competion and any bad plays are edited out. I do sense that Lamson might be a little more likely than Shrader to keep pass plays going as long as possible before tucking the ball and running.
MacPhail was a preferred walk-on last year who saw no action. I said this in last year’s preview:
“…a ‘pro-style quarterback’. He was “the fifth most productive passer in Massachusetts history in touchdowns (85) and yards (7,195)” and the “All-New England Player of the Year”, which sounds pretty good to me. Here are his highlights:
He’s got good size, can make all the throws, can scramble to buy time and throw on the run and runs the ball with determination and some speed. I like how his long throws have some air under them and gives his receivers time to run under them. He also hits guys in stride. What more do you want?”
He probably wants to play and may go the way of Drew Gunther, (see below). Steele doesn’t mention him and 247 doesn’t rate him. But with the transfer portal wide-open there may be a lot of guys missing next year and if McPhail holds the fort, he could find himself much more prominent on the depth chart. His tape certainly looks better than Gunther’s did and we’ve had a couple of walk-on QB’s in the past: Cameron Dantley in the G-Rob era and Zach Mahoney more recently. If we had to play a walk-on that would not be a good sign but Mahoney played amazingly well against teams like LSU and Clemson. MacPhail could be that kind of player for us.
To most fan’s eyes, Markiewicz looked like the best of last year’s recruits, looking at his high school highlight film. Thus it was a surprise, when both DeVito and Culpepper were hurt last year, to see the coaches, who know more about these things and observed the players in practice, send JaCobian Morgan in rather than Markiewicz. Dillon eventually got into a couple of games in mop-up duty and attempted one pass that was incomplete. Steele doesn’t mention him. 247 had him as a 3-star and the 69th best ‘pro-style’ QB. Here’s what I said about him last year: “Markiewicz completed 72 percent of his passes for 4,187 yards, 45 touchdowns and 6 interceptions during his senior season. He also ran for 7en scores” (Syracuse.com) I’ll take that, thank you. We out-recruited Boise State to get him, which says something about his ability. Here are his senior highlights:
Senior Season Highlights (12 Games)
I like his mobility, his ability to make decisions and throw on the run and his quick release.”
Morgan, both in his high school highlight film and on the field for SU, reminded me of the type of QB we had early in the century, when the program started to decline: the guys we had to go with because we didn’t get Michael Vick. Nunes was one but I’m talking about Madei Williams, R.J. Anderson and Perry Patterson. they could all play the game but did so at a maddeningly slow pace. They seemed to be going in s…l…o..w…m…o..t…i..o..n. Morgan was big, strong kid who could stake a hit and still be standing there. He could also run, or lumber, with the ball and throw on the run, which excited fans because DeVito’s inability to do that had become noticeable to everyone. But he had trouble reading the field and the game just seemed to be going too fast for him. Here’s what I said about him last year: “He was ranked the #79 pro-style QB recruit. (Steele has him #172). “As a senior, threw for 2,487 yards and accounted for 30 touchdowns (27 passing, 3 rushing)”, (Cuse.com). ““Jacobian is a born leader,” (his coach Calvin) Bolton said. “Outstanding QB with a strong arm. He’s very knowledgeable at this position. Syracuse found a diamond in the rough.” His highlights:
Jacobian Morgan Senior QB
He’s good at throwing the long ball and giving his receivers a chance to run under it. His short passes have a bit of a loop too them, as well, which is not always a good thing. The pace of the offense seemed a little slower than with Markiewicz, who looks like had has a better fastball. I didn’t see a lot of running in this clip.”
When Dino sent in Morgan, it was painfully obvious that he wasn’t ready to perform at this level and he was questioned as to why his staff hadn’t better prepared Morgan for the job, considering our recent record of losing quarterbacks before the end of seasons. Dino replied that there’s only so much practice time and that they have to focus on the top two guys, (not the guy who will become one of the top two guys if there is an injury). Dino also complains that other coaches have more assistants than he. I wonder if that could be a factor. But it may be that DeVito and Shrader will get the full attention of the coaching staff this year and Lamson, MacPhail, Markiewicz and Morgan will be on their own. They will be expected to “wait their turn”. But does anybody do that anymore?
Update: Dino said in his 8/17 press conference that for the first time ever, his staff is working with a first second and third team, not just the top two guy. He warned that it was temporary because of the increased depth due to the Covid rules and that other schools have the same advantage. But it means that the guys beyond DeVito and Schrader are competing for that third spot.
