Syracuse Football: Kenneth Ruff could be next break out star for Orange

For those looking for the next break out star for the Syracuse football program, look no further than Kenneth Ruff. Here are all the details.

Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers came to the Orange with the reputation of turning your program around on the offensive side of the ball. And in SU’s first two seasons under Babers, you could see that. But what was lacking was the defensive turnaround.

Syracuse still struggled on the defensive side of the ball, failing to get a sustained pass rush, and frequently getting beat over the top in the secondary.

But last season, the defense was different.

Syracuse piled up 43 sacks as a team. In 2016 and 2017, the Orange combined to put up just 32 sacks over BOTH seasons. As a result of the constant pressure on quarterbacks, Syracuse’s secondary was able to record 17 interceptions in 2018.

At times, the Orange could rely on their defense if the offense grew stagnant. A testament to Babers and defensive coordinator Brian Ward.

Good defense always starts up front with a good line. Last year Syracuse had that. Their two starting defensive ends combined for 20 sacks, while DT Chris Slayton ate up double teams in the middle.

But this year Slayton is gone, drafted in the seventh round of the NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Last year’s other starting interior lineman, McKinley Williams will return and he figures to

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start again. Josh Black is back, a converted defensive end, who struggled to stay healthy last season. But Black has shown signs of becoming a very good player throughout his career, health has always been the question.

That leaves Kenneth Ruff as the known commodities for the interior defensive line. Ruff became one of the most intriguing players on the Orange roster last season.

He came to Syracuse in 2016, as a highly recruited inside linebacker, with offers from the likes of Clemson, Kentucky, and South Carolina.

Since arriving on the Syracuse campus, Ruff has put on close to 60-pounds and now plays defensive tackle. Last season, Ruff came on strong at the end of the year. He played sparingly until the eighth game of the season against Wake Forest but showed tremendous ability in that game.

Ruff recorded three tackles against the Deacs including a sack and a tackle for loss. He also had a three-tackle game against BC, and West Virginia, where he recorded another tackle for loss. Ruff chipped in against Notre Dame with a sack late in the game as well.

What I saw out of Ruff in many of those games was elite lower body strength. He is only 6-foot tall, but in the trenches, the low man wins. Many of times, Ruff is always going to be the low man.

If you watch the video above, at the 1:07 mark, Ruff is on the far right side of the screen, #45. He just plows through his defender and makes him backpedal until he is at the quarterback, shedding the blocker and recording an impressive sack. If Ruff can do this with some consistency, he will demand a double team. That was too easy for him.

One thing that stuck out to me at the end of the season, was Ruff’s motor. He is always chasing down the ball carrier, that comes from his instincts at inside linebacker where he was recruited.

Ruff is listed as the backup to McKinley Williams on the Orange’s spring depth chart.

The Orange don’t need Ruff to become a star. They return 25 combined sacks from last season between their top three defensive ends.

BUT, if Ruff can give Syracuse a pass rushing threat in the middle of the line, then they become very tough to block. Expect the Miami native to be rotated in with Williams and Black, as they should make for a solid top three group of interior defensive linemen.