sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 25,650
- Like
- 111,345
Maybe more than any SU football team ever, this team needs to move the ball and score points to be successful. The loss of ED has been devastating and is almost impossible to recover from.
It is easy to blame the loss on Mahoney and to be sure, his performance, compared to what we have become accustomed to from Eric, was lacking. But he doesn't have the tools to be successful at this level and I thought overall, he did well considering the circumstances. At the least, he showed a lot of courage and toughness under fire.
Our inability to run the ball remains a huge issue. Strickland and Neal are just not getting it done and I don't think it is a case of constantly being close to breaking big plays. They can't break simple arm tackles and are quick enough or strong enough to get the job done. If job one for 2017 is getting ED back and ready to play, job two is finding a competent running back. Not much depth here. One of the kids from Florida has a great shot at winning the job as a true frosh.
Job three is to fix the OL. I think Conway has quietly put together a good season and he appears to get better each game. Roberts also appears to be reliable and getting better over time.
We still need to find 3 competent linemen to play center, right guard and right tackle. I think Byrne is going to be fine at center. If Adams is willing to lose 30 pounds, I think he will be fine at RG. If he can't, there are lots of other good prospects to choose from so I think we will be fine here. Hopefully someone emerges at RT. McGloster has taken his lumps this season. Hope he learns from it. Overall, there are a lot of good young prospects here. The future is bright.
I don't want to think about what happens at QB if Eric is done, but it needs to be discussed. Wilson just isn't the answer. That should be clear to anyone by now. I think every effort should be made to redshirt Devito. Culpepper would surely get the starting job and Mahoney would remain the backup. Given the lack of depth and uncertainty here, I would think a graduate transfer QB I should a possibility.
Given Amba's success this year, and the relative lack of big, fast, experienced WRs on the roster, I would think we will take another grad transfer at WR (more spots will open up as players who can't cut the mustard here leave). Phillips, Ishmael, Neal, Butler, Riley, Custis and all the WRs in the 2017 class are a good place to start. This is an area where quality depth is being built.
On defense, it is encouraging to see all the promising young DL on the roster. We are playing a ton of youngsters here by necessity and paying the price for it now. But it should pay off down the road. I think we are going to be tough to run against next season, in large part due to the solid DTs on the roster. We really need another pass rusher at DE. Kendall Coleman is going to be very good but he needs help.
It will be a veteran group at linebacker, which should help things. I really like the kids we have here too. It will be nice to be able to redshirt them and have the luxury of having the vets teach the kids while they wait for their time to play. I love Armstrong in particular and I think it is going to be tough to keep him off the field. Again, seeds for some quality depth here are being planted. The future is bright.
With the secondary, one thing you can say is that we will have a lot of kids with experience coming back. I think Ellison is going to be a star. Winfield is a solid CB. You know Cordy is going to start somewhere...could see him move to CB if we can't find someone but my guess is he returns at FS with a battle royale for the other CB spot. I am guessing Dowels or Jones. With Hudson, Frederick, Bradshaw, etc. all battling, it should be interesting. Surely someone will step up here.
Hofricher has been a revelation at punter since he started doing his punt on the run style and I imagine he will remain our punter for 3 more years. Might be preseason All ACC next year. Cole Murphy's career is not going in the direction you want as an SU fan but I will say his leg strength is improving and he has become pretty serviceable on kickoffs. Has to get better though, especially kicking on the road. If I were a senior in HS looking to earn a scholarship, Syracuse would be at the top of my list right now.
The future is brighter than it is been since just before DM left. Let 's hope we can keep our coaching staff longer than that time, and that our QB returns for two more successful and injury free seasons.
War Damb Otto!
It is easy to blame the loss on Mahoney and to be sure, his performance, compared to what we have become accustomed to from Eric, was lacking. But he doesn't have the tools to be successful at this level and I thought overall, he did well considering the circumstances. At the least, he showed a lot of courage and toughness under fire.
Our inability to run the ball remains a huge issue. Strickland and Neal are just not getting it done and I don't think it is a case of constantly being close to breaking big plays. They can't break simple arm tackles and are quick enough or strong enough to get the job done. If job one for 2017 is getting ED back and ready to play, job two is finding a competent running back. Not much depth here. One of the kids from Florida has a great shot at winning the job as a true frosh.
Job three is to fix the OL. I think Conway has quietly put together a good season and he appears to get better each game. Roberts also appears to be reliable and getting better over time.
We still need to find 3 competent linemen to play center, right guard and right tackle. I think Byrne is going to be fine at center. If Adams is willing to lose 30 pounds, I think he will be fine at RG. If he can't, there are lots of other good prospects to choose from so I think we will be fine here. Hopefully someone emerges at RT. McGloster has taken his lumps this season. Hope he learns from it. Overall, there are a lot of good young prospects here. The future is bright.
I don't want to think about what happens at QB if Eric is done, but it needs to be discussed. Wilson just isn't the answer. That should be clear to anyone by now. I think every effort should be made to redshirt Devito. Culpepper would surely get the starting job and Mahoney would remain the backup. Given the lack of depth and uncertainty here, I would think a graduate transfer QB I should a possibility.
Given Amba's success this year, and the relative lack of big, fast, experienced WRs on the roster, I would think we will take another grad transfer at WR (more spots will open up as players who can't cut the mustard here leave). Phillips, Ishmael, Neal, Butler, Riley, Custis and all the WRs in the 2017 class are a good place to start. This is an area where quality depth is being built.
On defense, it is encouraging to see all the promising young DL on the roster. We are playing a ton of youngsters here by necessity and paying the price for it now. But it should pay off down the road. I think we are going to be tough to run against next season, in large part due to the solid DTs on the roster. We really need another pass rusher at DE. Kendall Coleman is going to be very good but he needs help.
It will be a veteran group at linebacker, which should help things. I really like the kids we have here too. It will be nice to be able to redshirt them and have the luxury of having the vets teach the kids while they wait for their time to play. I love Armstrong in particular and I think it is going to be tough to keep him off the field. Again, seeds for some quality depth here are being planted. The future is bright.
With the secondary, one thing you can say is that we will have a lot of kids with experience coming back. I think Ellison is going to be a star. Winfield is a solid CB. You know Cordy is going to start somewhere...could see him move to CB if we can't find someone but my guess is he returns at FS with a battle royale for the other CB spot. I am guessing Dowels or Jones. With Hudson, Frederick, Bradshaw, etc. all battling, it should be interesting. Surely someone will step up here.
Hofricher has been a revelation at punter since he started doing his punt on the run style and I imagine he will remain our punter for 3 more years. Might be preseason All ACC next year. Cole Murphy's career is not going in the direction you want as an SU fan but I will say his leg strength is improving and he has become pretty serviceable on kickoffs. Has to get better though, especially kicking on the road. If I were a senior in HS looking to earn a scholarship, Syracuse would be at the top of my list right now.
The future is brighter than it is been since just before DM left. Let 's hope we can keep our coaching staff longer than that time, and that our QB returns for two more successful and injury free seasons.
War Damb Otto!
