Syracuse Football: Is the quarterback situation really so bad?

Welcome to the third part of my four-part series discussing concerns I have heard or seen on social media that people think will be a struggle to overcome this year for Syracuse football. In part 3, I will examine Tommy DeVito and why I have faith in him, as well as how the team is set up just in case he does struggle. Here is a breakdown of the four parts I have discussed so far as well as what is left:

•Is This The Taj Harris Redemption Tour?
•Can The Offensive Line Tow The Line?
•Tommy DeVito: Are We Headed To Success City Or Struggle Town?
•With Winter Coming, Is Coach Babers Sitting Atop Seat Warmers? (coming soon)

October 20, 2018. Eric Dungey is struggling against UNC and with 5:07 left in the game, head coach Dino Babers decides to put in freshman Tommy DeVito, who throws not only the game-tying TD to help take the game to OT but also throws the game-winning TD pass in double overtime to win the game. DeVito also stepped in for Dungey in September against Wake Forest, guiding Syracuse football to victory and giving him ACC Freshman of the Week honors.

Why do I bring this up? I think it’s important that if we constantly discuss DeVito’s struggles last season and even some the season before that we remember that he had shown potential and leadership as well. Often times we see the struggles and want to shun them without taking the good and the bad both into consideration. I’m not a “what have you done for me lately” judge of someone’s character and abilities…I try to look at their whole story.

Syracuse football has several solid quarterbacks on the team heading into 2021.

Having said that though, I also don’t blame the Syracuse football coaching staff for going out and convincing Garrett Shrader to transfer to Syracuse as an insurance policy. Garret transferred from Mississippi State after being a 4-star recruit from Charlotte Christian in Charlotte, N.C.

He was also an SEC Freshman of the Week at Mississippi State and had over 1,000 yards passing and 500 yards rushing. Garrett brings a healthy competition to the position and could possibly be the starter over Tommy if he can in fact prove to Coach Dino Babers he should be.

Dino Babers himself recently stated in a press conference at training camp when asked who would be the starter that it’ll be the person who proves to him to be the person who takes the job emphatically. By the way, when he said this, he didn’t mention any names and I’m wondering what might happen should someone else in that QB room step up.

JaCobian and Markiewicz isn’t an attorney’s office you saw on TV trying to convince you to sue if you’ve been hurt in an accident…JaCobian Morgan and Dillon Markeiwicz are actual quarterbacks on the roster. Both guys are coming off freshman seasons where they saw some playing time and JaCobian especially actually impressed me some when he played against Boston College and Louisville and made me wonder what might happen if he got more reps and was given the ball. What if JaCobian comes to camp and shows everyone up or could we even see incoming freshman Justin Lamson from California maybe be the future?

Now I know most people consider this to be a two-man race in reality (though I think this staff wants to win badly and if someone else impressed them more, they’d likely get a shot). Based on what I see, many are looking at Tommy’s struggles wondering if he even deserves a shot and I think he does based on experience, and if you look at what all he has done, it’s not all bad or all on him. If he does struggle in camp or against Ohio or Albany or whatever, there are options including Garrett, who did fairly well his freshman season for an SEC school.

September is almost here and soon we will see what it brings. Will Tommy struggle or succeed? Will Garrett be the solution for a winning season? Will we see if Lamson, Morgan or Markeiwicz (or even Luke MacPhail) can surprise everyone and be the long shot to win it or maybe even provide us with moments like Tommy DeVito did when his number was called to fill in for Eric Dungey?

I guess we will have to see but to me, I think if they have a good camp and maybe get out to some good leads early against Ohio and Albany, the staff, players and of course the fans as well will have the opportunity to see enough from these players to be optimistic about the future of the program.

By the time Rutgers and Liberty come along, unless injuries are a factor, I’m fairly certain we will see who the clear quarterback will be if nobody takes it at camp and I’m so ready for whomever it might be to root, root, root for the home team and hopefully lead us to a bowl game in 2021.

LET’S GO ORANGE!