You bring up a lot of good points. I won't argue with you that Dordevic is the more talented of the two (and I would say Buttermore looks more deserving of starting time than Cook at this point), but it isn't solely about talent or skill in this case - the coaches also have to consider how guys mesh as a unit and who might play better in certain scenarios and matchups. I really like Dordevic's skill set and I think he brings things to the team that frankly no one else does. But I don't know if attack is the best place for him, especially if Scanlan is on the team.
Watching tape of Scanlan you can easily see how he might transition to attack, he could essentially play the same spot on the field as before, the right-hand wing. To compliment that I think you need players on attack who are comfortable playing behind the goal. I'm not doubting that Dordevic could do it, I've just said that I don't think we've seen him do it before. Syracuse doesn't invert much (which I think is why they struggled so much against this tactic on defense last year, but that's for another day). The only midfielder I have seen actually invert successfully is Curry, and again, I think while he could do it, he'd be more valuable at midfield. At least with Cook you wouldn't be forcing a round peg into a square hole.
Progression is really hard to predict, obviously. For every Kevin Rice and Sergio Salcido, we get about 5 guys who never take that next step. I think the smart thing to do is see how much Cook has improved and give him the first shot. If he still looks hesitant and not ready for prime time, and none of the other 5 or so attackman are ready either, then you consider moving one of the midfielders down.
I could picture a scenario where Desko rotates Cook and either Seebold (or another attackman) for most of the game, then in crunch time he'd slide a midfielder down and bump Buttermore or Lipka from the second line. I think he'd get credit for giving everyone a little bit of what they most want (Buttermore on the first line, Cook and someone else can say they are getting PT, and not sacrificing the playing time of the starting midfielders). Might be too many moving pieces but we'll see.
Plenty of thought-provoking points in this thread. Having multiple options is a good "problem" to have, and as someone pointed out, how the groups perform as a unit will be key.
Seemingly every August, Dick MacPherson would be asked about his unsettled O-line. His answer was often "we'll get the best guys on the field." Before long, the backup center or third guard who was blocked by one of the studs would slide to a guard spot and the line would be better. My sense is that tghat's the approach Desko should take.
The midfield is deeper than the other units, with four (and possibly five, thought, I think Lipka is a tick behind the other guys) potential starters, while the logical third attack candidates -- especially Seebold -- bring questions. The six I'd roll out the first practice when everyone's healthy would be Scanlan, Curry, Dordevic, Trimboli, Rehfuss, Buttermore. If it turns out the attack functions better with Cook than a converted mid, well, the midfield just got deeper. But I also like the possibility of Cook as a change-of-pace fourth attack, especially if we run up against a team with a big-and-slow element to it.
Another great point is that we should wait to see what we have in year 2 of Cook. In any sport, at almost any level, that's the year that players tend to make a leap; it was a good point that Rice was a three-point guy after one year ... then scored 219 the next three. (And if you believe SU's 2019 media guide, Donahue did exactly the same thing, with the same point totals in each year. But I digress.)
I wonder, too, if there's someone who's not a starter who might make sense as a man-up specialist -- basically, taking someone who's not going to see a ton of PT, but has a skill that can be leveraged -- maybe in the way Desko used DeJoe. I haven't seen enough of him to commit to anything, but Quinn seemed to be a guy who is both looking to shoot, and capable of scoring in different ways (OTOH, he's not particularly big). People's descriptions of Aburn also make him sound like someone who might fit the bill).
