Syracuse is expecting a lot of turnover on both sides of the ball come August, and will lean on its second-year players to either fill, or plug a lot of holes.

On the Atlantic Coast Conference spring teleconference Wednesday morning, SU head coach Scott Shafer threw out a group of second-year players he was encouraged with this spring.

“It’s been fun watching them compete when those jobs are open,” Shafer said. “… There’s great intensity with those kids.”

After fielding one of the worst offenses in the country last season, it’s no secret that rising sophomore skill players like wide receiver Steve Ishmael and hybrid Ervin Philips will be at the center of SU’s retooled attack. But those weren’t the players Shafer mentioned in his last address to the media before the ACC’s media day. Nor did he discuss the three second-year defensive backs who are looking to fill sizable gaps in a depleted secondary.

Instead, he focused on less-heralded players like offensive lineman Aaron Roberts, defensive tackles Kayton Samuels and Chris Slayton and linebacker Parris Bennett, among others, who figure to be key parts of SU’s immediate future.

Roberts, who redshirted last season, played as the first team’s right guard in the Orange’s annual spring game on April 4. Shafer said there’s still a lot of moving parts on an offensive line that lost two starters in left tackle Sean Hickey and center John Miller at the end of last season.

In the opposite trenches, Shafer mentioned Samuels and Slayton as two second-year defensive tackles who will push expected starters John Raymon and Wayne Williams for snaps.

“Kayton Samuels did a very nice job. He may have been the most improved player on defense (in the spring),” Shafer said. “And then Chris Slayton, both those young men are playing tackle.

“… So those two have done a real nice job providing competition with Raymon and Williams.”

The last group Shafer touched on was the linebackers, where second-year players Bennett and Jonathan Thomas are pushing to start at strong-side linebacker. That unit is led by rising sophomore Zaire Franklin, who will start at middle linebacker, and has a lot to live up to with Cameron Lynch and Dyshawn Davis finishing up their careers last November.

“There are guys who can compete and have a shot to line up as a starter against Rhode Island,” Shafer said of SU’s linebackers.

And it was a similar sentiment for the rest of the position groups — with the Orange’s youth looking like the prevailing answer.

Published on April 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse