Oronde Gadsden Discusses Move to Tight End

The new Syracuse football season starts on Saturday and for Oronde Gadsden, so does his new position.

As the release of the SU depth charts came out this week, for many players this means maintaining and working on their same positions, but for Oronde Gadsden this means a new approach to the game.

Gadsden, previously a wide receiver for the Syracuse Orange, is now playing tight end this season. Gadsden had only a small amount of exposure to this position during high school while playing hybrid positions. Now, Gadsden is ready to take on this new role for his team.

“Coach Babers just came to me about playing tight end and said it'd be a good idea for me to go out,” said Gadsden. “And I just thought, whatever was good for the team.”

To fit into this new role, Gadsden plans on getting in with the defensive linemen to practice blocking. Though he is used to the catching game from his previous position as a wide receiver, he says that blocking is something he needs to work on while shifting positions. He also acknowledges that he isn’t the largest guy on the field and is working on gaining weight to better fit in with his role as a new tight end.

This has not been the only new change for Gadsden this year. There has also been a change in offensive coaches. Gadsden said that it is definitely a new offense compared to last season, but he is growing to like it. The concepts are different, but good and easy for him to learn. 

Gadsden’s mindset going into this week against Louisville with his new position is just doing anything he can to help win the game.

“I'm just ready to go wherever I need to,” said Gadsden. “If I have to go to tight end, running back, quarterback, safety it doesn't matter. Wherever I have to go to win the game.”

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