With Syracuse football training camp just a month away, The Daily Orange beat writers, Sam Blum, Jesse Dougherty, Matt Schneidman and Paul Schwedelson will reveal the top 15 preseason storylines with a new one every other day. Make sure to check dailyorange.com and click here to see all the posts as we count down to camp.

Last season Cole Murphy all but locked up the starting kicker role with a surprise 49-yard kick through the uprights against Maryland during just the fourth game of the season. Until that point, Ryan Norton had been sporadic, connecting on just four of his seven chances.

After that game, he never got another one.

Murphy, a walk-on last season, figures to be in line for the job after making 13-of-16 during his freshman campaign. But with Norton still on the roster, along with incoming freshman Sterling Hofrichter, it’s a role that still appears undefined.

Hofrichter impressed Syracuse coaches when he knocked home a 55-yarder during a recruiting trip. But Murphy has a knack for having a strong leg as well, hitting a 50-yard field goal against Clemson on the road last season. It was the longest field goal for a Syracuse kicker in six years at the time. It was that strong leg that gave him the chance against Maryland in the first place, with Syracuse coaches having confidence in his long-range accuracy.

Norton may just be a sitting duck during his senior season, having compiled just a 63.6 conversion percentage during his first three seasons. As a sophomore, he was also arrested and charged with resisting arrest and underage possession of alcohol.

Murphy seemingly swiped away the job from Norton last season, but with the abilities of Hofrichter still somewhat of an intriguing unknown, there are still no guarantees as to whether it’s anyone’s job to lose going into training camp in August.