This year, next year | Syracusefan.com

This year, next year

GoSU96

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Below is this years starts and stats per game. What it shows is during the middle six games when they had at least four of the five best OL on the field in the right spots during the middle of the season the offense was ok. Elmore also made a difference. Pass game was lacking but they could work around it to an extent, the team went 3-3 against peer teams in 5 one score games and a comfortable win.

Not having Bleich and Vettorello and Elmore had a huge impact on the ability to run and pass protect the last three games.


IMG_0146.jpg

Regarding next year returning players are in bold.

Starting OL of Bergeron, Ellis, Vettorello, Bleich, Davis should be a GREAT run blocking group. Can they protect is the question here.

Ellmore, Mang at FB/TE

What I said were the top five guys by FSU are all back, Queeley, Alford, Jackson, Cooper and Gadsden. Pena and Hatcher next men up. Those guys all made plays in spots with not very many targets. Need to continue to improve get production in the pass game.

Shrader is the QB by default, but he needs to be coached up. His issues put a ceiling on the offense.

Tucker is obviously a given. Who is backing him up?

Ilaoa and Tisdale need to get better to provide true depth at C/G and swing tackle at a minimum. Getting at least three additional game ready guys should be the goal.

Things can change, but if everyone comes back, and comes back healthy, the new offensive staff has a lot of experience and the foundation of a very good run game to work with.
 
I don't think we will know how the OL shakes out until coming out of Summer camp. The new OC needs to install his O and then evaluate the players. Outside of Bergeron I don't think anything is a given.

Where does Vettorello play? Is he better off at T? Will the new staff see him as a C? If not, who is the best player to handle the position? Will his injury push him into being the 6th OL guy?

Only 2 of Ellis, Bleich, Davis can play at G. When will Bleich be back? Can any of the 3 handle C? Are any of the 3 able to play T?

Will any of the young guys break through? Will a xfer come in?

I think we will see Bergeron and 3 of Ellis, Bleich, Davis, Vettorello for sure. Where they play and whether or not all 4 start IMO won't be settled till mid August.
 
I don't think we will know how the OL shakes out until coming out of Summer camp. The new OC needs to install his O and then evaluate the players. Outside of Bergeron I don't think anything is a given.

Where does Vettorello play? Is he better off at T? Will the new staff see him as a C? If not, who is the best player to handle the position? Will his injury push him into being the 6th OL guy?

Only 2 of Ellis, Bleich, Davis can play at G. When will Bleich be back? Can any of the 3 handle C? Are any of the 3 able to play T?

Will any of the young guys break through? Will a xfer come in?

I think we will see Bergeron and 3 of Ellis, Bleich, Davis, Vettorello for sure. Where they play and whether or not all 4 start IMO won't be settled till mid August.

We had early offers out to a couple of transfer OTs. Knowing nothing other than injury history and now having 2 surgeries, I think it would seem like a long shot for Bleich to be ready by the season opener.

Anae has a lot of experience coaching offensive lines (including doing it for Leach at TT and RichRod in Arizona). So between him and Schmidt, they should be able to make this functional.
 
We had early offers out to a couple of transfer OTs. Knowing nothing other than injury history and now having 2 surgeries, I think it would seem like a long shot for Bleich to be ready by the season opener.

Anae has a lot of experience coaching offensive lines (including doing it for Leach at TT and RichRod in Arizona). So between him and Schmidt, they should be able to make this functional.

I think we will see our best OL play since 2018. If someone does get left out from the 5, I prefer it be Davis as he is the only one who can't come back in 2023.

We really are setting up for a break through 2023. We lose Tucker and Williams but return a lot of experience everywhere else. Plus year 4 in the D system and year 2 in the O system. Oh and extremely manageable schedule.
 
I don't think we will know how the OL shakes out until coming out of Summer camp. The new OC needs to install his O and then evaluate the players. Outside of Bergeron I don't think anything is a given.

Where does Vettorello play? Is he better off at T? Will the new staff see him as a C? If not, who is the best player to handle the position? Will his injury push him into being the 6th OL guy?

Only 2 of Ellis, Bleich, Davis can play at G. When will Bleich be back? Can any of the 3 handle C? Are any of the 3 able to play T?

Will any of the young guys break through? Will a xfer come in?

I think we will see Bergeron and 3 of Ellis, Bleich, Davis, Vettorello for sure. Where they play and whether or not all 4 start IMO won't be settled till mid August.
Kick Davis out to right tackle, which they did this year. Gives you four multi year starters and Ellis who had five starts.

if there is a better guy in the portal they can bring in, fine, but it’s not essential. They need to find three guys that are in the program they can raise up to be game ready, there are plenty of bodies with P5 size, Schmidt needs to coach them up and they have to do the work in the weight room.
 
We need one more game ready RB as im not expecting Hough until fall practice if then.
Need a TE. Its a shame the Frosh left.
It would be nice to add a starting center which in my opinion has been our weakness regardless of " Scores" we have been weak at that position.
 
Praying Bleich can get his hips healthy enough to play, he is a solid anchor on the line but unfortunately his body hasn't cooperated.
 
Praying Bleich can get his hips healthy enough to play, he is a solid anchor on the line but unfortunately his body hasn't cooperated.
I think he, and definitely Ellis, would benefit from losing some weight.
 
We need one more game ready RB as im not expecting Hough until fall practice if then.
Need a TE. Its a shame the Frosh left.
It would be nice to add a starting center which in my opinion has been our weakness regardless of " Scores" we have been weak at that position.
Here we go with the clueless speculation again. Even if Hough blew out his acl, which we don’t know, recovery is a year MAX. Most come back earlier. The Buddha said : if you have nothing constructive to say, keep noble silence.
 
I think he, and definitely Ellis, would benefit from losing some weight.

Yeah, I've said this before, but Ellis can't really be used on screen plays. Unless you're looking for a good laugh.
 
Here we go with the clueless speculation again. Even if Hough blew out his acl, which we don’t know, recovery is a year MAX. Most come back earlier. The Buddha said : if you have nothing constructive to say, keep noble silence.
I hope he comes back stronger than ever. My point is hes coming off a serious season ending injury. He didn't get any playing time in games or practice. If hes back he is basically a true frosh. I dont think its wise to count on him carrying a big load next fall. Hope im wrong.
 
I hope he comes back stronger than ever. My point is hes coming off a serious season ending injury. He didn't get any playing time in games or practice. If hes back he is basically a true frosh. I dont think its wise to count on him carrying a big load next fall. Hope im wrong.


Don't we have Tuck, the frosh from NJ, New Mex St transfer, and Hough? Nothing is 100% but the hand wringin on Hough to me seems a bit over the top. I would think he should be able to start running come spring and working the next 4 months after that to get ready for fall camp. Gives you 3 healthy and Hough off the injury, unit seems fine to me but yeah if you don't count Hough I see the point
 
I think we will see our best OL play since 2018. If someone does get left out from the 5, I prefer it be Davis as he is the only one who can't come back in 2023.

We really are setting up for a break through 2023. We lose Tucker and Williams but return a lot of experience everywhere else. Plus year 4 in the D system and year 2 in the O system. Oh and extremely manageable schedule.

You'd choose to kick one of the top 2 lineman to the curb because he's a senior? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Priority #1 is going to be finding a capable center.
 
You'd choose to kick one of the top 2 lineman to the curb because he's a senior? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Priority #1 is going to be finding a capable center.

I am saying all things being equal, IF one has to sit it is preferable. All of them might play, so it could be moot. If he is clearly better than the others (is he?), then he should start for sure.
 
Don't we have Tuck, the frosh from NJ, New Mex St transfer, and Hough? Nothing is 100% but the hand wringin on Hough to me seems a bit over the top. I would think he should be able to start running come spring and working the next 4 months after that to get ready for fall camp. Gives you 3 healthy and Hough off the injury, unit seems fine to me but yeah if you don't count Hough I see the point
Yeah, the NM St. transfer is the guy who will likely be given the first shot to be the backup.

Other two can split 3rd RB duties depending on situation.

I think 4 RB's is about right. Maybe 5, but the 5th would likely be a dual RB/WR threat, IMO.
 
Kick Davis out to right tackle, which they did this year. Gives you four multi year starters and Ellis who had five starts.

if there is a better guy in the portal they can bring in, fine, but it’s not essential. They need to find three guys that are in the program they can raise up to be game ready, there are plenty of bodies with P5 size, Schmidt needs to coach them up and they have to do the work in the weight room.

I wonder if those three would end up being Cruz, Magnuson, and Bradford. Those three with Ilaoa / Tisdale would give us a full two-deep.

And then as you say, you leave no stone unturned seeing if you can land a transfer option at C or OT, to compete for a starting role.

Concerned about center -- need to figure out a long-term solution there.
 
We need one more game ready RB as im not expecting Hough until fall practice if then.
Need a TE. Its a shame the Frosh left.
It would be nice to add a starting center which in my opinion has been our weakness regardless of " Scores" we have been weak at that position.
Agree we need a true center. It seems like we are never able to sign a true center. We are always trying to move a guard or tackle to center which is not working. Reminds me of JB trying to turn combo guards into point guards.
 
Agree we need a true center. It seems like we are never able to sign a true center. We are always trying to move a guard or tackle to center which is not working. Reminds me of JB trying to turn combo guards into point guards.
What’s the deal with Ilao? Wasn’t he deemed promising?
 
I think he, and definitely Ellis, would benefit from losing some weight.
Good point. He did drop about 25 lbs from the beginning of camp until the season, but losing another 25lb would help.

I hope we can get the OL transfer from Cornell, Hunter Nourzad. Kid is really good and probably could start right away.
 
What’s the deal with Ilao? Wasn’t he deemed promising?
There is no deal, he will be a rs soph , which is when you should expect ol to start stepping up. people writing off underclassmen with no basis is annoying. I know you‘re not, but it‘s something that is said constantly here.

SU should be a program that features 3rd, 4th, 5th yr guys with a handful of game ready freshmen. But a constant theme here is if guys dont perform at a high level early, pound the portal.
 
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There is no deal, he will be a rs soph , which is when you should expect ol to start stepping up. people writing off underclassmen with no basis is annoying. I know you not, but it‘s something that is said constantly here.

SU should be a program that features 3rd, 4th, 5th yr guys with a handful of game ready freshmen. But a constant theme here is if guys dont perform at a high level early, pound the portal.
Indeed. Development schools need to develop talent and show that they do.
 
There is no deal, he will be a rs soph , which is when you should expect ol to start stepping up. people writing off underclassmen with no basis is annoying. I know you‘re not, but it‘s something that is said constantly here.

SU should be a program that features 3rd, 4th, 5th yr guys with a handful of game ready freshmen. But a constant theme here is if guys dont perform at a high level early, pound the portal.


good post and some guys have gotten on the field out of necessity at times, doesn't mean they won't get better as their career here evolves. Especially the O line , having coaches that can develop kids is and has always been the key to success here. There is no secret sauce, IMO
 
Indeed. Development schools need to develop talent and show that they do.
In this day and age is that still possible? Kids are bailing left and right if they aren’t playing as much as they think, or sometimes even when they are. Being a developmental program is going to be harder than ever in this climate. What little old me would do is possibly sacrifice a little bit of talent and recruit kids with high character and put a focus on building a culture where kids don’t want to leave. I think what hurt this years team the most is there wasn’t that leader on offense. With a new kid leaving every week it kind of struck me that this team wasn’t bought all in for the betterment of the program, but more looking out for themselves. Just my opinion.
 
There is no deal, he will be a rs soph , which is when you should expect ol to start stepping up. people writing off underclassmen with no basis is annoying. I know you‘re not, but it‘s something that is said constantly here.

SU should be a program that features 3rd, 4th, 5th yr guys with a handful of game ready freshmen. But a constant theme here is if guys dont perform at a high level early, pound the portal.

I agree that the program's approach should be similar to what Clawson's built at Wake (redshirt most talent so most of their linemen are 3rd-5th year adults).

I expect the portal will continue to complicate this approach as players seem less likely to wait on the two deep as they did even 10 years ago.

Coaches have to be more in tune with their players today to retain talent for building depth.
 

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