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Syracuse started spring meetings at 6 a.m. Tuesday. The team hit the field about 45 minutes later, signaling the start of the first real spring practice in about two years. 

“It’s not like Christmas morning, but it’s an exciting morning,” SU head coach Dino Babers said. 

During the practice, which was closed to the media due to COVID-19 protocols, the team went through activities in shorts. Freshman Duce Chestnut made an interception, and the Orange offensive line went through drills as a healthy unit, Babers said. 

Shortly after Syracuse’s first practice of the spring, Babers addressed the media. Here are the highlights: 

The QB competition

Syracuse brought in Texas A&M transfer Garrett Shrader to compete with Tommy DeVito for the starting spot. In 2019, Shrader was one of just three freshman quarterbacks in the FBS to account for 1,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards. He could add an Eric Dungey-esque dynamic to SU’s up-tempo offense. 

With Rex Culpepper graduating and JaCobian Morgan and Dillon Markiewicz coming off their freshman seasons, Babers wanted more experience in the quarterback room. Morgan appeared in four games in 2020 and flashed promise but is still raw. 

Babers said DeVito is 100% healthy, but everyone is competing for a job — including Babers himself, he joked. Shrader has an “aggressive style” and a toughness to him, Babers said. 

Elsewhere in the quarterback room, reserve QB David Summers recently entered the transfer portal and newcomer Justin Lamson got his first exposure of college football. Lamson is a Class of 2021 recruit that enrolled at SU this January.

“All of the sudden these huge bodies came toward him, and then he moved, and the next thing he was covered up,” Babers said of Lamson.

Early stages of the secondary

Syracuse is tasked with replacing Andre Cisco, Trill Williams and Ifeatu Melifonwu — all of whom entered the NFL Draft — in the secondary in 2021. Rising sophomore Garrett Williams proved himself as a capable option on the outside last year, but there are more question marks otherwise. 

Babers said he’s avoiding cross-training, or teaching players multiple positions, to get a more fair evaluation on each guy. He declined to say which specific players are slated to practice at which positions. 

Chestnut, though, is projected to be a factor. The four-star recruit, SU’s highest-rated signee since 2012, impressed Babers during the first practice. 

“Duce made a play today; he made a pick today in his first practice. And I’m like, ‘Wow,’” Babers said. “But we’ve got to keep him in the same spots so we can get evaluations on him, then after spring, we’ll decide who we want to cross-train and who we don’t want to cross-train.”

Opt-outs on the up 

Two of the most notable opt-outs from last season, running backs Jarveon Howard and Abdul Adams, are back with the team practicing. They were both penciled in as the two-headed workhorses for SU last year before they decided to sit out.

Howard and Adams join a backfield with Sean Tucker, who broke out as a freshman with 4.6 yards per carry and four touchdowns in nine games played.

“When they get back on the team, they go to the bottom and work their way back up to the top,” Babers said of Adams and Howard.

Published on March 30, 2021 at 2:21 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman