Syracuse Football: Shyheim Cullen skipping out on SU is right move

Syracuse football will be down another LB this season with Shyheim Cullen skipping town. Here’s what that means for his future.

Syracuse football will be replacing their linebacking corps for the third straight year. One of the names who was supposed to step up to the plate is now stepping away from the program.

Former Syracuse linebacker Shyheim Cullen has decided not to return to the Orange for his final year of eligibility, per his stepfather, John Brewer via Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com.

Cullen, who redshirted during the 2015 season, saw an increase of playing time last season, after only playing in 12 total games from 2016 to 2017. Last year alone, Cullen suited up for 10 games, and according to sportsreference.com, registered 31 total tackles and a sack.

While these numbers may not seem overly impressive, he did this behind two superb seniors, in Ryan Guthrie and Kielan Whitner.

While Cullen’s college career may be over, he still looks to embark on a professional football journey. Cullen plans on entering the NFL’s supplemental draft, which is open to any player who becomes ineligible for college football after the deadline to enter the NFL Draft.

For reference, last season, only five players entered the supplemental draft, and since teams aren’t required to use their pick, only two of those five were actually drafted.

This shifts our focus to the 2019 Syracuse football season.

Cullen makes it three linebackers that the Orange have lost from last season, making that position very thin for the upcoming season. Dino Babers will mostly rely on senior Andrew Armstrong, who played in all 13 games last season for the Orange and contributed 45 tackles, on top of two fumble recoveries. However, other than Armstrong, Cuse will have to do some sifting through to find who else can be relied upon.

Lakiem Williams seems like a viable option, as he’ll be a senior. However, last year, he only appeared in seven games making four tackles and was mostly a special teams player. One positive on that is how good Syracuse’s special teams’ coverage was last year, so Williams certainly can make an impact on the field but will need to step it up.

After Williams, it will surely be a battle for other key LBs. The seven other players are either freshmen or sophomores, forcing Dino Babers and his defensive crew to rely on some inexperienced players from time to time next season.

While the Orange were hoping that Cullen would stay around for one more year, it really seems like the right choice for him to move on. The process for him to retain his academic eligibility seemed shaky, so he needed to do what was best for him. Regardless, Armstrong and Williams will be seniors and have the experience to step up their game for the benefit of the team.

Syracuse opens up with games against Liberty and Maryland, before the big date against Clemson on September 14th, so the Orange will have two short weeks to make sure they’re ready at the LB position for the biggest game of the season.