Syracuse Football: Sean Tucker will face a deep QB group for ACC POY

I think all of us Syracuse football fans out there can agree on a couple of things as it pertains to Orange star running back Sean Tucker.

Number one, this dude can flat-out play. He tallied nearly 1,500 yards on the ground a season ago, breaking the team’s single-season rushing record.

Number two, if Sean Tucker boasts a 2022 stanza that is similar to a year ago, he’s going to be on the All-ACC first team and make All-America squads as well.

Number three, if Tucker hopes to win the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year award, and be in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy and other national honors, Syracuse football has to successfully navigate a potentially daunting schedule this fall and own a record that is better than 6-6.

Syracuse football RB Sean Tucker didn’t get a ton of pre-season love from ACC media members.

To me, and I’m no pundit, but realistically the ‘Cuse needs seven, eight, maybe nine wins (plus a triumph in a strong bowl game) for Sean Tucker to prove knee-deep in the conversation for these big awards that I just mentioned.

How realistic is it that the Orange can go 7-5, 8-4 or even 9-3 prior to a bowl game? Most of my fellow fans would say probably not all that realistic, but we’ll have to wait and see on that.

When the ACC recently disclosed its 2022 pre-season All-ACC team, of course Tucker made the cut, and he was in fact the only ‘Cuse player to do so.

But when you take a look at the conference’s pre-season player of the year voting, Tucker checked in at No. 8, which I found to be surprisingly low.

Putting aside my Syracuse football bias, based on what he did in 2021, you’re going to sit here and tell me that there are seven ACC guys who are better than Tucker?

Respectfully, I’d have to disagree with that. However, let’s get real. Quarterbacks often rule these sorts of voting tallies, and the ACC has a bunch of good to excellent quarterbacks within its ranks ahead of the 2022 campaign.

Case in point, of the seven guys ahead of Sean Tucker in the league’s pre-season player of the year voting, five of them are quarterbacks.

Coming in first in this voting category is N.C. State quarterback Devin Leary, followed by Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman at No. 2, Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke at No. 3, Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong in a tie at No. 4, and Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham in a tie at No. 6.

Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers recently said that he believes Tucker will be even better this season, after setting program records on the Hill in 2021.

I hope that Babers is right, the Orange has a really good 2022, and Sean Tucker makes a significant case for being ACC player of the year, an All-American, and a Heisman Trophy finalist.