Syracuse Football: Experts have SU ranked in top-20 of preseason poll

Syracuse football is garnering some respect across college football after a historic 2018. How much love are they getting? Here are the details.

The Syracuse football season is still several months away but a wide variety of media outlets have already made their feelings known with their annual (sometimes monthly) preseason college football polls.

The folks over at FanSided (Cody Williams) moved Syracuse up to No. 17 on their big board (previously SU was ranked 22nd), here were some of the highlights of their argument:

• Losing Eric Dungey hurts them, but they believe Tommy DeVito will step up to the plate “and has the pedigree to develop into a high-level starting quarterback in college football.”
• On top of that, the Orange return eight starters from their 2018 defense and have high hopes on that side of the ball that their experience can carry them.
• Babers and the Orange should continue to be a threat in the ACC.

But FanSided isn’t the only site offering some delicious preseason polls, here are some other prominent ones and where they have Syracuse ranked:

• Sports Illustrated did not have Syracuse ranked.
• 247 Sports Brad Crawford says SU “isn’t getting enough love” in preseason polls:
  • “Syracuse should be a consensus Top 25 team. It’s as simple as that. A lot of that is based on Dino Babers and the job he did leading the Orange to its best season in 17 years, but it’s not like there was some catastrophic loss to that team. Syracuse ranks No. 64 nationally in returning production (basically right in the middle of FBS programs) after watching just 1 player get drafted.”
• Sporting News’ Bill Bender has SU listed at 19:
  • “This is the best bet to challenge Clemson in the ACC Atlantic, and Dino Babers and the Orange have proven that the last two seasons.”
• USA Today’s Paul Myerberg has SU placed at 23rd best in the country:
  • The major questions in the explanation of this ranking revolve around Tommy DeVito taking over the helm.
• ESPN’s Andrea Adelson has Syracuse 22nd in her latest rankings:
  • Concerns from this placement from Adelson: linebackers and offensive line are question marks.

Gathering all of these prominent rankings together gives us a fair sample size of what the national media thinks of the Orange heading into the Summer of 2019.

Any criticisms of the offensive line and at linebacker are totally legitimate. Syracuse lost their starting linebacking corps for the third straight season. Hardly ideal, but perhaps reveals a hidden (not so hidden) narrative that Dino Babers prefers seniors.

When I spoke with coach Babers following spring ball ending for the Orange he revealed his insight into what he does at linebacker and why he does it (via Paul A. Esden Jr.):

"“There’s always a chance for a young guy to come in and take one of those starting spots at linebacker. They just have to come in and learn the mental part of the game. When you get to a linebacking or quarterback position there are a lot of things that you need to know that some of the other positions on the team you don’t need to know. Some of those other positions a player can just come in and listen to a call and do what they’re supposed to do, instead of having to make a call and making sure 10 other guys know what they’re doing. At linebacker there’s a learning curve, I don’t think there’s zero chance that a young guy can come in and take the spot. But when a young guy comes in and has that attitude that a (Andre) Cisco or a (Kendall) Coleman has, then I think they’ll have an opportunity to make that move.”"

There are pros and cons to that strategy. On one hand, you always have experienced guys who have either been there done that or are super mature players who are ready to step in.

For example, Andrew Armstrong and Lakiem Williams could be another pair of seniors who take the reins from Ryan Guthrie and Kielan Whitner who left in 2018. In other words, we could be having this very same conversation next year.

While on the offensive line Syracuse lost both of their starting tackles (Koda Martin and Cody Conway) and starting guard Aaron Roberts is also adios. Also hardly ideal for transitioning a new quarterback into the starting lineup in 2019.

Which speaking of Tommy DeVito, it seems like the majority of the fan-base has embraced the fact that Tommy is going to be a transcendent star. He certainly has all the tools to be THE guy and he has to prove that he can be THAT guy for the Orange.

Tommy has yet to start a game in his Syracuse career and already has a ton of clutch moments on the resume (Florida State and North Carolina come to mind in 2018). The fact he hasn’t started a game can be looked at with a positive or negative light.

On one side he has no starting experience as a player and the only way to learn is trial by combat with live bullets flying around. Although by playing devil’s advocate, DeVito hasn’t had an opportunity for the Syracuse staff to provide him with all of the practice reps and design a gameplan solely for him.

Ultimately all of these words, whether positive or negative are just white noise to the football team. This season will live or die on Tommy DeVito’s arm, maturity, and patience and the season can’t come soon enough.