Syracuse Football: 5 Freshmen that will make an impact in 2019
By Andrew Carey
n/a. . OL. Syracuse Orange. ANTHONY RED
Let me start off this preview by saying that it is extremely difficult to crack into the starting rotation as a freshman offensive lineman. Typically young lineman do not have the technique needed to play offensive line in the ACC in their first season of college football. Lineman that go on to play at Power Five schools has always had the benefit of being much bigger and stronger than their opponent in high school.
Red comes to Syracuse at 6-foot-4 and 275-pounds. That is good size for a freshman lineman, but what is good to see is that he didn’t come in with too much weight on his frame. Often times linemen come in overweight and need to lose fat, then add muscle. In Red’s case, he enrolled early and has been able to just focus on adding strictly muscle to that 6-foot-4 frame.
Red was not highly recruited at all, but this coaching staff certainly has a track record of identifying “hidden gems” that they feel will turn into contributors. It sounds like Red has a chance to be one of those contributors early on in his career.
If there is one serious question mark heading into the season for Syracuse, it’s their offensive line. Mike Cavanaugh is in his second year at Syracuse as the offensive line coach. Last season, there were good improvements made, as Syracuse’s run game was the best its been under Dino Babers. They also did a decent job of keeping Eric Dungey and Tommy DeVito on their feet.
However, both starting offensive tackles have departed and signed contracts with NFL teams. Koda Martin has moved on to the Los Angeles Chargers and Cody Conway is with the Tennessee Titans. Both players will look to earn roster spots for this upcoming NFL season.
The Orange also graduated starting guard Aaron Roberts, leaving three vacated spots on the Syracuse offensive line. An injury to Sam Heckel and other linemen have left Syracuse thin at the position during the spring. Red has a great chance to compete and show the coaching staff what he can do.
As a result, Red earned a starting role for the spring game at one of the tackle positions. I’m sure Red has a lot to do before he sees the field as a starter this season, but he is earning valuable experience.
More reinforcements are on the way for the Orange in grad-transfer Ryan Alexander and JUCO product Darius Tisdale. But Red was the man on campus early and has the advantage of learning the playbook before those two.