Syracuse endured plenty of change in the offseason. This is true on both sides of the ball and on the coaching staff. Three of the most crucial changes that will determine a successful season occurred with the offense. Jason Beck is now the offensive coordinator, Matthew Bergeron is no longer protecting Garrett Shrader’s blind side, and Sean Tucker is set to carry the ball for Tampa Bay.

With those, and other changes in mind, let’s look at how the returning offensive units rank ranging from 1 (when does hoops season start?) to 5 (bring on Clemson and FSU!).

Syracuse’s quarterback room consists of Garrett Shrader, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and Braden Davis. All three quarterbacks came to Syracuse from SEC schools via the transfer portal. Recruiting quarterbacks from SEC odd-man-outs isn’t the worst strategy.

Shrader heads into his third season as the starter. He is also one of the most experience-laden starters in the ACC thanks to the annual turnover created by the portal. This point shouldn’t be glossed over as other QBs will be learning new systems in some cases.

After a successful college career that saw Sean Tucker run around, over, and through opponents, he declared for the draft to no one’s surprise. LeQuint Allen appears more than capable of taking the baton from Tucker. With his legal issues behind him, Allen will no doubt be more motivated to put his stamp on the offense.

The true freshman had a successful season playing in nine games (including the bowl game) and flashed skills that made Babers proclaim “he’s got some stuff to him” in the preseason.

Allen had a breakout performance against Minnesota in the Pinstripe Bowl as he rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries. He also caught 11 balls for 60 yards. The New Jersey native is sure to #please Orange fans this season.

Behind Allen is Juwan Price, who transferred in prior to last season from New Mexico State and has decent experience. Syracuse also picked up JJ Branham from the JUCO ranks when Allen’s season was in jeopardy. Muwaffaq Parkman, Ike Daniels, and Deston Hawkins – members of the Class of 2023 – are all enrolled.

We are going to include Oronde Gadsden with the wideouts given the value he brings to the Syracuse passing game.

Gadsden will keep ACC defensive coordinators up at night this season. The key will be finding enough consistent pass catchers to keep teams from doubling Gadsden or make them pay when they do.

Syracuse has plenty of candidates to accomplish this with the return of Damien Alford, Trebor Pena, and D'Marcus Adams. All three players have experience while providing numerous moments that flash their potential. Isaiah Jones could be the most critical returning receiver not named Gadsden. His season was cut short last year due to injury, but he oozes talent. Even if a consistent second receiver from that group doesn’t emerge, they need to all have several impact-level games to make Gadsden’s job easier.

The OL is a mixed bag of players lost, returning starters, and returning experience. Replacing Bergeron at tackle and finding consistency at center are the biggest voids to fill.

Chris Bleich and Kalan Ellis are the two returning starters. They appear to be the favorites to reclaim the starting guard spots.

Enrique Cruz has plenty of experience at tackle, so he could have an inside track to one of those spots. But Syracuse used the transfer portal to inject a healthy dose of bodies to the mix. Joe More, a tackle from Richmond with one year of eligibility, probably didn’t come to Upstate New York to sit on the sidelines. Legacy transfer recruit Dave Wohlabaugh (Kentucky) seems certain to either start or be a key rotational piece.

Lastly, the Orange again turned to the JUCO ranks to strengthen the center position with the arrival of J'Onre Reed. Though Josh Ilaoa has plenty of experience playing center the past couple of seasons and could make a push to claim the starting job.

Overall, the OL seems to have plenty of experienced depth. How that shakes out remains to be seen.

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