Many Syracuse football fans, myself included, are cautiously optimistic about the orange ahead of the 2022 campaign.
The ‘Cuse have several new assistant coaches who will hopefully help bolster an offense that struggled in passing in 2021 when the Orange dropped their last three games to go 5-7 on aggregate.
The unity of the special teams wasn’t great either, but I expect a recovery in the upcoming verse. Syracuse football coaches received a massive quarterback engagement a few days ago to add depth to that position.
But the real question, given the team’s daunting schedule, is whether the ‘Cuse can pull off at least six wins to qualify for postseason bowl competition?
In 2022, Syracuse football will have a roster full of veterans.
I came across an interesting tweet that ESPN writer Bill Connelly posted not long ago. He posted his national college football rankings on Twitter on May 23 in regards to the return of production ahead of the 2022 term.
At that point, the orange was ranked 9th nationally with 80 percent, which I found to be an encouraging record. In Connelly’s tweet, I ranked six Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the top 30 nationally, including Syracuse soccer.
NC State was the highest at 82 percent, followed by ‘Cuse, Louisville at 12 (79 percent), Florida State at 17 (78 percent), Miami at 28 (73 percent). and perennial conference heavyweight Clemson at No. 30 (72 percent).
Of course, many players returning to Orange doesn’t necessarily mean a successful season, but at the same time it can’t be bad to have numerous veterans in the 2022 squad either.
I’m confident that star running back Sean Tucker will fill the stats list again after breaking program records while being named an All-American last year.
As in other final stanzas, Syracuse football secondaries were to prove excellent, led by the likes of Duce Chestnut and Garrett Williams. Linebacker Mikel Jones, returning to the mound for 2022, is huge.
But we’ll have to see how the passing game pans out, whether it’s reigning starter Garrett Shrader taking the snaps or someone else.
And how the team’s offensive and defensive lines hold up will be paramount to the success of Syracuse football this upcoming season.
That being said, I am very encouraged by the fact that the ‘Cuse has brought many players back for the 2022 season from a term ago.
