This years offense

[Millhouse]

Here is my two cents on the O based on position groups.

QB huge upgrade. No shade at Shrader but he was hurt the entire year and couldn't throw from about the third game of the season.

RB. LQ is back bigger stronger and will be better. Willis is going to make the frosh All American team he is that good, Add in Hart and Nixon and again a huge upgrade.

WR. Its not even close. The talent level this year is best since P days. Maybe better. Im a big fan of JS from Colorado State. Think he is going to be a stud and Pena looked great in the spring game.

TE. OG enough said. Mang according to the interview is the most improved player on O and Dan is a weapon that will have learned how to be a tight end.

OL. If the guys are healthy this is our best line in years. solid two deep with size.

Bottom line is Nixon has a ton of weapons at his disposal. He is a seasoned OC with both college and Pro experience. I think we are going to light teams up.

I am from Missouri about Mang. Every year there's a hybrid ish guy who is going to be the matchup nightmare and it never works out like it's hoped in august

 

[IthacaMatt]

I am from Missouri about Mang. Every year there's a hybrid ish guy who is going to be the matchup nightmare and it never works out like it's hoped in august

He sticks in my memory as a guy who has really really badly missed on some block attempts. It's surprising that none of his teammates were killed, to be honest.

 

[SmilinBob]

Some very nice options as you all have said.

2 keys, OL being at worst average and healthy as much as possible and McCord also being healthy all year.

Running game should be excellent and when that happens the world will open up. The key is like Money said teams with a top front 7 and passing over/quickly. I do firmly believe we will see many TD's scored the way Phillips did vs Clemson as the WHOLE field will finally be used.

Valari is an interesting case and he could line up as a blocking back, a full back, slot, Wildcat, blocking TE and cause some issues depending on what type of D. Moving OG around like many said and the WR's may finally be 3 to 6 deep and cause so many issues for defenses. This group being talented and coached well will force D's not to 8 or more man the LOS.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I am from Missouri about Mang. Every year there's a hybrid ish guy who is going to be the matchup nightmare and it never works out like it's hoped in august

Ditto on Mang. Some kids are good practice players but wilt under the lights.

Never heard this expression about Missouri - thought it was maybe autocorrect but it's a real thing.

 

[Offthedome]

Ditto on Mang. Some kids are good practice players but wilt under the lights.

Never heard this expression about Missouri - thought it was maybe autocorrect but it's a real thing.

Ahhh. After reading your post I figured it out: The Show Me state. Makes sense!

 

[Niastri]

We're going to cause some match-up nightmares this year. OG alone does that but add in one of JRS or Zeed running against cb2 while opposing teams best cb covers the other and you have Meeks, Pena, Gill, Hatcher, etc potentially in the slot vs nickle corner or lb flexed out or air... oh and somebody better be watching for Laquint or one of the other bulls out of the backfield also

Having McCord, a QB that can actually work his way through a progression and hit the open guy is going to make football a lot more fun to watch.

 

[AAM62]

Anyone else find it odd that Fran isn’t saying the offense won’t be good until games 4-6 of year 2?

 

[NKR1978]

OL. If the guys are healthy this is our best line in years. solid two deep with size.

How do you think the OL compares to 2012 and 2018?

 

[IthacaMatt]

How do you think the OL compares to 2012 and 2018?

I think we have better size. We'll see how good the coaching is.

 

[SURules]

Anyone else find it odd that Fran isn’t saying the offense won’t be good until games 4-6 of year 2?

Or that he won’t know who his players are until game 4 … oh but I regress as that is what fall camp is for I always thought.

 

[kcsu]

How do you think the OL compares to 2012 and 2018?

time will tell but on paper as good if not better. Definitely bigger.

 

[NKR1978]

time will tell but on paper as good if not better. Definitely bigger.

I'm trying not to get too excited, because every time I get super excited for SU football it blows up. But this is not 2019, 2022 and 2023; so might as well lean in.

 

[SanDiegoCuse]

I think we have better size. We'll see how good the coaching is.

I'm more than willing to be wrong but Dale Williams was the one hire where I was like, hmmm did Fran strike out on his first couple of choices?

 

[Niastri]

I’m nervous about o line too I heard Purdue didn’t have an o-linemen drafted when he was there coach

When Dale Williams was hired, the implications were that he was a decent to good coach, but not a very good recruiter.

Fran Brown looked at that profile and price tag and said "I'll take care of the recruiting" and hired him.

YMMV.

EDIT: Added the link:

New OL Coach: Dale Williams [Official]

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-fran-brown-syracuse-nab-ol-coach-dale-williams Louisville Bio https://gocards.com/sports/football/roster/staff/dale-williams/190 Purdue Bio https://purduesports.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/dale-williams/2146

syracusefan.com

 

[SUskibum]

I'm more than willing to be wrong but Dale Williams was the one hire where I was like, hmmm did Fran strike out on his first couple of choices?

It was my least favorite hire also (except keeping Ligs which we got saved from) but there are 2 positives I am leaning on

#1 He coached at Purdue against B1G defensive lines for a decade with some of the best offenses in the conference (cant have a good offense without a good line, as we have witnessed unfortunately first hand) and he was supposedly a much better coach than recruiter, which is fine with our staff

#2 This hire was who Jeff Nixon wanted (not a Fran hire). Guy has been around over 20 years across P5 and NFL, I assume he knows what he needs and has known Dale going back to college. I have found in life you bump into a small amount of people who just do things at the level and the way you rarely find and you always know you would love to reconnect. Those are almost never misses from a hiring standpoint (in my personal experience)

From the article in the spring:

Williams played briefly with Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon at West Virginia in the early 90s and the two maintained a connection during their coaching careers.

Nixon, Williams said, always told him that if he was given a chance to hire a staff he should expect to get a phone call.

“Jeff sent me a text message at 6 in the morning saying, ‘How are you doing?’ ” Williams said. “I thought this ought to be interesting, a how-are-you-doing text at 6 in the morning.”

Syracuse football’s new offensive line coach must fix its most persistent problem: ‘We have to toughen them up’

Dale Williams is the Orange's fifth offensive line coach in the past eight seasons.

www.syracuse.com

 

[cusefan88]

When Dale Williams was hired, the implications were that he was a decent to good coach, but not a very good recruiter.

Fran Brown looked at that profile and price tag and said "I'll take care of the recruiting" and hired him.

YMMV.

EDIT: Added the link:

New OL Coach: Dale Williams [Official]

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-fran-brown-syracuse-nab-ol-coach-dale-williams Louisville Bio https://gocards.com/sports/football/roster/staff/dale-williams/190 Purdue Bio https://purduesports.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/dale-williams/2146

syracusefan.com

This is my thinking too. If he can coach but can't recruit well, this staff can work around that problem fairly well i think.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

It's a transient profession, either because the coach is good or not good.

 

[baggerbob]

It's a transient profession, either because the coach is good or not good.

When Dale Williams was hired, the implications were that he was a decent to good coach, but not a very good recruiter.

Fran Brown looked at that profile and price tag and said "I'll take care of the recruiting" and hired him.

YMMV.

EDIT: Added the link:

New OL Coach: Dale Williams [Official]

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-fran-brown-syracuse-nab-ol-coach-dale-williams Louisville Bio https://gocards.com/sports/football/roster/staff/dale-williams/190 Purdue Bio https://purduesports.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/dale-williams/2146

syracusefan.com

If you look at the size and type of player they are bringing in on the line.
They have length, and a decent amount of weight. Something for a good coach to work with, and he doesn't have to wait 2 or 3 years for them to get big enough to play.

 

[Niastri]

If you look at the size and type of player they are bringing in on the line.
They have length, and a decent amount of weight. Something for a good coach to work with, and he doesn't have to wait 2 or 3 years for them to get big enough to play.

Absolutely, I'd much rather have an inexperienced, low technique, 330lb offensive lineman who can handle the strength of his opponent than a skilled, high technique, 280lb guy that just gets pushed into the QB twice a half.

 

[baggerbob]

Absolutely, I'd much rather have an inexperienced, low technique, 330lb offensive lineman who can handle the strength of his opponent than a skilled, high technique, 280lb guy that just gets pushed into the QB twice a half.

And just maybe on 3rd and short we won't have to use a 280 lb DT as a blocking back this year.

 

[money3189]

Absolutely, I'd much rather have an inexperienced, low technique, 330lb offensive lineman who can handle the strength of his opponent than a skilled, high technique, 280lb guy that just gets pushed into the QB twice a half.

Both arent good enough to play. The 330 pound guy that is slow with bad technique will get exposed too. The 280 pound guy atleast has the higher ceiling.

 

[Niastri]

Both arent good enough to play. The 330 pound guy that is slow with bad technique will get exposed too. The 280 pound guy atleast has the higher ceiling.

Not if he's really a 250 lb guy inflated by years in the gym, and already at his (non chemical) biggest/strongest he could ever be.

If you're looking at 16 year olds who you plan on grooming into your offensive linemen:

Give me a guy who's an athletic 6'7" 330 and never laid a block in his life over a 6'4" 230 lb guy who's played football all his life and who's going to use his first three years in college lifting his way from being a slow tight end into an offensive tackle.

The little guy can't hold the point of attack nor keep a defensive end from taking his QBs head off.

At least you know the guy that never played football is big enough to get the job done. You can teach him by his redshirt junior year to do the job, maybe at an elite level. The tight end/tackle guy is always going to be too small.

 

[orangefog]

Not if he's really a 250 lb guy inflated by years in the gym, and already at his (non chemical) biggest/strongest he could ever be.

If you're looking at 16 year olds who you plan on grooming into your offensive linemen:

Give me a guy who's an athletic 6'7" 330 and never laid a block in his life over a 6'4" 230 lb guy who's played football all his life and who's going to use his first three years in college lifting his way from being a slow tight end into an offensive tackle.

The little guy can't hold the point of attack nor keep a defensive end from taking his QBs head off.

At least you know the guy that never played football is big enough to get the job done. You can teach him by his redshirt junior year to do the job, maybe at an elite level. The tight end/tackle guy is always going to be too small.

I KNOW THAT GUY!!!!

 

[Niastri]

I KNOW THAT GUY!!!!

"Any similarity to players on Syracuse football teams from the past two decades is neither intended nor insinuated. If you think a particular player is implied, it is only your imagination. No football players too small to play offensive line were harmed in the making of this post."

 

[SuFTW]

Not if he's really a 250 lb guy inflated by years in the gym, and already at his (non chemical) biggest/strongest he could ever be.

If you're looking at 16 year olds who you plan on grooming into your offensive linemen:

Give me a guy who's an athletic 6'7" 330 and never laid a block in his life over a 6'4" 230 lb guy who's played football all his life and who's going to use his first three years in college lifting his way from being a slow tight end into an offensive tackle.

The little guy can't hold the point of attack nor keep a defensive end from taking his QBs head off.

At least you know the guy that never played football is big enough to get the job done. You can teach him by his redshirt junior year to do the job, maybe at an elite level. The tight end/tackle guy is always going to be too small.

Why is the 280 pound guy now a 230 pound tight end?