Five Things to Watch For in Syracuse Football's Spring Game
Syracuse football has its annual spring game Friday night. Here are five things to watch for in the game.
1. Quarterback Play
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and Justin Lamson are expected to run the offense in this game. They will be battling it out this fall to earn the backup job behind starter Garrett Shrader. Shrader is out for the spring game due to injury. Given that Shrader has missed time each of the last two seasons with injury, the backup quarterback is extremely important heading into 2023. Lamson was a breakout star last spring before suffering an injury that would cost him the 2022 campaign, while Del Rio-Wilson showed flashes of his top tier talent in limited action last year. How will each look? Will one clearly standout over the other? That is a major theme for this spring game.
2. Next Man Up
Syracuse is losing several key players from the 2022 squad. That includes running back Sean Tucker, cornerback Garrett Williams, linebacker Mikel Jones, offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron, kicker Andre Szmyt, and players that transferred out including Ja'Had Carter and Duce Chestnut. How will their replacements look? For example, rumbling out of spring ball are that Isaiah Johnson has looked really strong. How consistent are the kickers? Does LeQuint Allen flash the same ability he did last season as Tucker's backup including in the bowl game? It will be interesting to see how some of these players perform.
3. Line Play
Offensive line is always a topic of conversation as Syracuse has had its struggles over the years. That includes significant injury issues. Now the most consistent performer up front, Bergeron, is gone. That is clearly an area of concern for the coaching staff as the Orange has brought in a transfer and a junior college player that will be expected to compete for starting jobs. They do not arrive until this summer, however. So how will the other guys look against a veteran Syracuse defensive line?
4. Wrinkles
The game plan is typically very vanilla in the spring game and this will likely not be any different. But we can still hold out hope that the new coordinators will show us a little something. A new formation, a trick play, something. It will be especially interesting to see how Jason Beck calls plays.
5. New Potential Breakout Candidates
As previously mentioned, the breakout star of last spring was Justin Lamson. That performance, prior to getting hurt, led some to believe he had a real chance to challenge Shrader for the starting job. Who will emerge this spring as potential breakout candidates for this fall? The spring game could provide a window into that possibility.
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