Defensive Line — 2023 Syracuse football preview
Considering that the unit lost five rotational players prior to last season, the defensive line performed about as well as could be hoped for despite being a very young group.
Defensive end Caleb Okechukwu entered the season as the most experienced player in the pool and performed like it, leading the team with seven sacks as part of logging ten tackles for loss, which was good for second on the team.
Okechukwu also forced a pair of fumbles and added an interception returned for a touchdown against Purdue. The redshirt senior has played in every game the last three seasons and is the elder statesman of the defense.
Nose tackle Kevon Darton has the second-most experience among the defensive linemen, having played in every game the last two years and starting 11 times last season.
Darton was awarded a scholarship prior to last season and made it pay off, finishing fifth on the team with 54 tackles. An undersized runstuffer on the interior line, Darton relies on his motor and aggression to make plays.
Terry Lockett returns to the active roster this season after missing all but four games of last season due to injury. Lockett is slated to play at tackle again and has appeared in 15 games in his two years on campus, including notching a pair of sacks as a freshman.
Elijah Fuentes-Cundiff should also be in the tackle rotation, as well, after playing in 11 games last year and seeing his opportunities increase after Lockett’s season-ending injury.
With Jatius Geer and Steve Linton transferring out of the program, the line is looking for contributors to step up and replace that duo’s combined seven sacks last year. Kevin Jobity Jr. is vying for an increased role this season after playing in the final eight games as a freshman last year, including collecting two sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in that limited time. Jobity Jr. took advantage of some injuries to his teammates to get that opportunity.
Dennis Jaquez Jr. also earned some spot play duties as a freshman, seeing action in the first six games before getting injured, while Chase Simmons had the same fate befall him after the first three games of the campaign. Francois Nolton Jr. came to the Orange as a four-star recruit last season and could be in the mix this season.
One new face of note is Braylen Ingraham, who transferred to the Orange after starting his collegiate career at Alabama. Ingraham has sat out the last two seasons and actually medically retired at Alabama before his transfer, but has been cleared to resume his athletic career.
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