FORT DRUM, N.Y. — A few days before Syracuse left for Fort Drum, head coach Scott Shafer said he wanted the four-day excursion at the army reservation to provide some clarity in the team’s many position battles.

Shafer said after practice on Wednesday that the team is still on track to find some answers. Here’s how the Orange is finding them on the offensive side of the ball.

Jamal Custis

Freshman wide receiver Jamal Custis worked with the tight ends for the 30 minutes of practice that the media saw, which Shafer said isn’t particularly new.

Shafer added that Custis has worked with both the receivers and tight ends during camp, his 6-foot-5, 232-pound frame allowing him to fit each role. While working with the receivers, Custis has run a lot of corner fade routes. With tight ends coach Bobby Acosta on Wednesday, he ran button hooks and quick out routes and polished his blocking.

“(Custis) actually had a nice catch on the perimeter where he shook some kids and went for about 30 yards which was good to see,” Shafer said. “He’s a very good player, he’s got a lot of work to do to get to where we need him.”

Quarterbacks

SU’s four quarterbacks worked on footwork with quarterbacks coach Tim Lester and misdirection handoffs to the running backs before throwing to receivers in a variety of different drills.

The positional hierarchy of Terrel Hunt running the first team, Mitch Kimble operating the second team and Austin Wilson and A.J. Long splitting time with the third remained the same.

Kimble looked sharp in the 11-on-0 drills and continued to throw smoothly when the team worked on red zone routes. After catching a pass on the goal line, Jeremiah Kobena unveiled a nickname for the sophomore quarterback.

“Hey Money Mitch,” Kobena called before throwing him a pass. “Catch this.”

Offensive line

Offensive line coach Joe Adam has been adding layers to the protection every day of camp. Wednesday was no different.

After working the footwork timing in picking up linebackers on Tuesday, Adam added a wrinkle. The group worked on coming out of double teams and picking up a linebacker at the second level.

With the whole line back together toward the end of the 30 minutes, they worked on moving right and left as a unit. Staying in sync gave the group trouble at first, but the third rep proved the charm. With five dummies shepherding the line toward the left sideline, they seemed to find a groove that led Adam to throw out some praise.

“That’s it,” the coach said. “Move together as one but also move your individual man out of the way.”

Published on August 13, 2014 at 7:33 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse