Syracuse Football: The Orange offensive line is no longer the woe line

Before the season, many people talked about the Syracuse football team’s offensive line struggles in the past.

But the addition of transfer Chris Bleich and offensive line coach Mike Schmidt, as well as experience, has proven to bring positive results.

All the news on running back Sean Tucker would likely be not as impactful if not for the improvements of this line. Tucker is an amazing athlete I often compare to Cuse legend Joe Morris and would possibly still contribute greatly but the block has to be created with a portion of that success as well.

Even Sean himself is one of the first people to credit this offensive line for his success.

Syracuse football offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron is a name to know.

Among the players, the one I notice most often is Canadian Matthew Bergeron. Matthew is regularly featured when social media accounts grades players in quality of performance.

Recruited to Syracuse football as the 2nd-overall prospect from Canada, he has been an Academic All-American, as well as earning freshman All-American honors from Pro Football Focus. With any luck, Syracuse football still has two more seasons after this year with him at tackle helping to provide a solid transition in leadership after the season when Airon Servais graduates.

If I had to bet today on the offensive lineman most likely to be drafted or at least make an NFL roster, Matthew is definitely one of the top choices to make my list.

As of this writing, both quarterback Garrett Shrader and Tucker are tied for 9th in the country with 9 rushing touchdowns. Not one…BOTH! This would not be the case if the offensive line was failing but instead points to incredible improvements over the last couple of years.

Depth and lack of major long-term injuries probably play a role, but I think the job Coach Schmidt has done has obviously worked, as well as players like Matthew Bergeron stepping up. I think as long as the depth and Coach Schmidt remain, the offensive line is in good hands in the future for Syracuse football.