Syracuse Football: Keeping up with All the Changes

This week marks week two of the spring session for Syracuse football, and with practices well underway, the team looks to build around new head coach Dino Babers and staff.

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With all this exciting talk of Syracuse basketball, it’s easy to forget that Syracuse football is back at it as well. Last week was the beginning of “Spring training” if you will for SU, and already there’s a lot to talk about.

There have been some notable roster changes, including the addition of graduate transfer defensive end Gabe Sherrod, who comes to SU from Delaware State and looks to make an immediate impact. This is huge news for the Orange, who had already dismissed Qadir Sheppard and Amir Ealey a couple weeks ago following their failed drug tests last fall. The team also dismissed defensive end Kenny Carter. Add that to the loss of Ron Thompson to the NFL and Luke Arciniega who was medically disqualified due to concussions, and Syracuse football was dangerously thin at DE.

Gabe Sherrod will be an immediate playmaker for the Orange. At Delaware State last year, he had 64 tackles including a whopping 25 for a loss and 8 sacks. He finished in 2nd place in tackles for loss per game in the FCS. He will fill a big need for Syracuse football for sure.

Aside from Sherrod, Kenneth Ruff (LB) and Trey Dunkelberger (TE) also transitioned to the defensive line to help shore it up. Ruff was looked at as a major talent at linebacker, so if he can add a bit more weight (currently 250 lbs) he could be a star on the defensive line as well. Since Syracuse is relatively deep at LB already, this move was no surprise. Dunkelberger was a bit of one, but considering he didn’t catch any passes last year, it’s certainly not detrimental. His size (6’5, 238) is decent for a DE if he can add on some weight.

There were several other key changes to the roster recently as well. Alex Hayes joined the list of dismissed players from the team. Although not a major loss as he played in just one game for Syracuse football last year, it’s at least worth noting. It’s also worth noting that clearly Babers has installed a “no nonsense” policy on this team, and is making examples of players who don’t follow it. I love that. We need a coach who is strict and willing to do what’s necessary to get this team whipped into shape.

Another roster change came in the form of Ben Lewis leaving the program. Lewis played as a hybrid back last year for SU, and actually had a starting role while Ervin Philips was out during the early portion of the season with injury. Lewis was fourth on the team in receiving yards last year at 208 and figured to be a cog in the spread offense Babers likes to run this year.

"“I had a lot of injuries and I don’t know if I could hold up another season considering how much of a toll football takes on your body. Also, I’m graduating in May and am ready for the next stage of my life after football.”"

The last of the the changes came recently, as Devante McFarland also left the program. Although this may have surprised some people, I kind of saw this coming. His rushing totals decreased each of the past three years, and he was passed over for starter by freshman Fredericks last year. He ended his career with 563 yards on 111 carries with one touchdown.

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With all these changes, there are certainly a lot of question marks for Syracuse football this season. Thankfully, we have an entire Spring and Summer to figure out all the details. Check back soon for some analysis of the Spring session so far and some insight on what the team is looking like in the early going.