Syracuse Football: ESPN details spring football pluses, what’s still missing

Two ESPN writers recently published an interesting piece, following the conclusion of spring football, where they examined what they learned and what they still need to learn for each team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, including of course Syracuse football.

The main take-away from ESPN’s Andrea Adelson and David Hale regarding the ‘Cuse, as it pertains to what these experts say they learned this spring, centers around the Orange offense.

And there are some encouraging nuggets from the ESPN writers here, by the way.

"They wrote in part that the Syracuse football offense, as we eye the 2022 season in a few months’ time, “might look a bit more like Dino Babers’ offenses have usually looked. Credit new offensive coordinator Robert Anae, who worked magic with Virginia’s offense a year ago, with an up-tempo passing attack that should dovetail nicely with Babers’ history of fast-paced play.”"

Both Anae and Orange quarterbacks coach Jason Beck left the Cavaliers for the ‘Cuse, and their arrival has a boatload of Syracuse football fans excited for what the team’s offense could end up doing in the 2022 term.

Syracuse football, we believe, has pivotal depth at quarterback in 2022.

Of course, the Orange’s offense will be led in large part by star running back Sean Tucker, who was an All-American and an All-ACC performer in 2021, when the ‘Cuse lost three in a row to end that campaign and finished at a disappointing 5-7.

For me, Babers really needs to get this squad to six victories and a bowl game in 2022. The upcoming schedule is quite challenging, but I also believe that Anae and Beck are huge additions to help the Orange get to that kind of win total.

Now, as top-flight as Sean Tucker is, it’s paramount that the ‘Cuse offense isn’t so one-dimensional in 2022. That means quarterback Garrett Shrader, the starter for much of 2021, or whoever else sees the field at this position has got to do at least a credible job with the Orange’s passing attack.

The ESPN writers noted that quarterback Justin Lamson had himself a really nice spring, and perhaps he could make a run at the starting QB job for the ‘Cuse. We’ll see.

Not to end on a negative, but the ESPN report did also say that Babers & Co. could really use some additional defensive-line talent via the transfer portal.

Syracuse football did lose multiple starters on the defensive line from the 2021 group, and as some of my Inside The Loud House colleagues have discussed of late, the current defensive linemen for the Orange are limited in their experience as well as their size.

For Syracuse football to likely reach its full potential on defense, the ESPN writers believe that the ‘Cuse needs to bring in at least one impact player from the portal on the defensive line, and I totally agree here.

The Orange, undeniably, will shine in the secondary, and it also has a strong core in the linebackers’ unit. But the defensive line could pose a concern as we look ahead to the 2022 stanza.