Syracuse Football: Big concerns over depth as injuries, sadly, are piling up

Syracuse football hosts FCS team Wagner (0-3) this coming Saturday on the Hill, and then the Orange has a bye week before enduring a brutal slate of seven games to culminate the 2022 regular season.

No disrespect to Wagner, but I don’t foresee the Seahawks posing too big of a challenge to the ‘Cuse (4-0), which is seeking to get to 5-0 for the first time since its 1987 campaign.

A relatively “easy” non-conference clash for Syracuse football, along with the team’s bye week, comes at a critical time for an Orange roster that is a bit banged up and bruised, to put it mildly.

Four games into the 2022 term, and sadly the ‘Cuse has already lost at least four starters to campaign-ending injuries. First and foremost, my heart goes out to these Syracuse football players, and Orange Nation wishes them speedy recoveries.

Syracuse football, unfortunately, is dealing with a growing number of injuries.

The ‘Cuse defense, which was stifling against Virginia this past Friday night on the Hill in a two-point triumph for the Orange, has played quite well for much of the 2022 stanza to date, in my humble opinion.

But the team’s defense took a hit when Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers confirmed that sophomore defensive lineman Terry Lockett will be out for the rest of the present term, according to an article from Emily Leiker of Syracuse.com.

Lockett joins linebacker Stefon Thompson, fullback/tight end Chris Elmore and wide receiver Isaiah Jones as Orange players who will be sidelined for the remainder of 2022 due to injury.

Listed as a starter at defensive tackle on the squad’s depth chart ahead of the Wagner game is redshirt sophomore Kevon Darton.

Another linebacker, Derek McDonald, didn’t play versus the Cavaliers. Additionally, safety Ja’Had Carter and safety Alijah Clark appeared to have suffered injuries in the UVA contest.

On the depth chart released on Monday, per a piece from SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister, McDonald is listed as a possible starter at linebacker, along with Anwar Sparrow.

The boundary safety starter is listed as either Carter or Jason Simmons Jr., while Clark is listed as the starter at free safety.

Without question, the Orange offense misses the versatility of Elmore in both the passing and rushing attacks, especially since I feel like running back Sean Tucker and the team’s offensive line need to ramp things up a bit moving forward.

But at this point in time, I’m more concerned about the injuries on defense. The ‘Cuse defensive unit has been strong in 2022, and Syracuse football will face a bunch of high-powered offenses later in the season, such as N.C. State, Clemson, Pittsburgh, Florida State and Wake Forest.

Hopefully, the Orange roster will have an opportunity to rest up some in the near future, particularly over its bye week, because some heavyweight opponents are soon arriving in droves on the Syracuse football docket.