Syracuse Football: Dino Babers suggests Orange miss Chris Slayton

Syracuse football HC Dino Babers intimated this week that the Orange miss the impact of Chris Slayton. Here are all the details and the full quote.

Dino Babers has been adamant since the offseason that the strength of the 2019 Syracuse football squad will be its defense.

So far this season the results have been mixed.

One thing that seemed to be a guarantee was the production of the Orange’s two studs Kendall Coleman and Alton Robinson.

They’re the top returning sack duo from the ACC in 2018 and both are heralded as future NFL players. Despite the production and the pedigree, they just haven’t made the impact we all expected so far this season.

Why is that?

Orange head coach Dino Babers shared his best guess this week during his press conference and even hinted at missing the impact of former Orange star Chris Slayton:

"“I think we’ve blitzed a bit this season and that has affected Alton and Kendall’s numbers. Sometimes you can get a coverage sack and allow all of our defenders to have a bit more time to get to the passer. Very seldom does one really good player just beat another. If you know who the good guys are then you know who to double team or chip. What we need to do is get a little bit more push up the middle, which we aren’t getting, if we can get that pressure to reset the pocket, I think we could be really productive from the edge.”"

While Dino didn’t directly name Chris Slayton, he didn’t have to.

Last year Slayton quietly but effectively did a wonderful job of pushing the pocket and eating double teams so Alton and Kendall could get one-on-one opportunities to dominate.

So far this season with Slayton now in the NFL with the New York Giants, there hasn’t been that penetrator at defensive tackle.

Not only is Slayton absent, but so is starting defensive tackle, McKinley Williams. He’s been out for the Orange since early August and has yet to make a return this season. Although Babers hopes he can be back October 10 for Syracuse’s road trip to play NC State.

Throughout Chris Slayton’s career, he never got the full credit from the fans and media in town. He never got the sexy stats like sacks, but he always had an impact and showed up on film.

They say you only start to miss something when it’s gone and that’s very much the case with Slayton. He’s one of those guys that flies under the radar and isn’t a big talker, but with him gone in 2019, there’s been a sizeable impact and ripple effects throughout the Orange defense.

Hopefully, McKinley can come back sooner rather than later or KJ Ruff and Josh Black can step up to the plate and fill the void left by Chris Slayton. If they can, perhaps they can achieve similar defensive success like last season. If they can’t, it could be a long season.