Syracuse Football: Top 5 Orange players due for a bounce back in 2020

Bounce back is probably the wrong term to describe the upcoming sophomore campaign for linebacker Mikel Jones. It’s more so the coming-out party.

Jones played in eight games as a freshman:

• 38 total tackles.
  • 19 solo.
  • 19 assisted.
• Two tackles for loss, half a sack, and a pass deflection.

But it goes beyond the stats, Jones as a freshman was so impressive that he earned opportunities running special packages on the defense in 2019.

Historically speaking Dino Babers has always leaned on veteran linebackers in his systems. Look at his time with the Syracuse football team:

• 2017: Zaire Franklin, Parris Bennett.
• 2018: Ryan Guthrie, Kielan Whitner.
• 2019: Lakiem Williams, Andrew Armstrong.

Notice a trend? All of his starters over the last three years have been seniors. While Mikel Jones didn’t start in 2019, he proved that he’s more than capable of a bigger role on the defense and that’s exactly what he’s going to get in 2019.

Mikel has a chance to break the wheel, Game of Thrones style, with the revolving door at linebacker if he can step up to the plate.