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

They say everything in life happens for a reason and McKinley Williams is one that truly believes that. 2019 was supposed to be his senior and final season in Orange, but it didn’t play out that way.

Williams got hurt in Fall camp (early August) and missed the majority of the season before returning late. Due to the relatively new redshirt rule, McKinley was allowed to play in four games or less and still maintain another year of collegiate eligibility.

So with that being said, Williams is ready to maximize his second lease on his football career in 2020 with the Orange.

Few people realize the impact that McKinley Williams or his old running mate Chris Slayton had on the team the last several years. While they never get the flashy stats Williams has 1.5 career sacks, he constantly eats up double teams to open up opportunities for his teammates.

A lot of people were puzzled with the lack of production from Syracuse’s pair of bookends in Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman in 2019. While some people suggested a regression, the reality is they didn’t have their normal big man eating things up in the middle.

McKinley missed the majority of the season and that allowed the opposing offense’s focus to be on Robinson and Coleman. Now he can return in 2020 fully healthy and open up those same opportunities for some new pass rushers on the defensive line.