Syracuse Football: Positional grades heading into 2017 season

While it’s not the same without Riley Dixon, SU will have to wage on. We’re going to just chuck the entire special teams unit into one big lump here. Lets start off with our kicker Cole Murphy who is a senior in 2017.

Last year was rough for Murphy, there’s no doubt about it. He nearly missed as many as he made with a clip of 55%. Reportedly he’s looked good in camp, but Dino Babers better have a tight leash. Looking at the Orange’s schedule, a lot of these games could come down to the nitty gritty, they can’t afford to give away critical points in opponent’s territory.

Sterling Hofrichter has huge shoes to fill. He did solidly last season: only one blocked kick, 23 50+ yard punts, and averaged nearly 43 yards a punt, per Cuse.com. While the last piece of the puzzle is the return game.

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The leader in the clubhouse at the kick return spot is Sean Riley and Shyheim Cullen. But at punt returner could be one of my favorite Orange players. It’s a guy we talked to this offseason and that’s Nykeim Johnson. The speedy DeSean Jackson like freshman has all the tools to be a dynamic return man for the Orange.