With Syracuse football training camp approaching, 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.

Syracuse’s running backs underperformed last season, scoring just two touchdowns, and none of its top three rushers will return to the position group in 2015. Prince-Tyson Gulley and Adonis Ameen-Moore graduated while Ervin Philips is switching to the hybrid position.

That leaves juniors Devante McFarlane and George Morris — neither found the end zone last season — as the only returners. Freshmen Dontae Strickland and Jordan Fredericks may also see playing time among a position group without a proven star.

While McFarlane is listed as the starter on the preseason depth chart, little separates him and Morris. Both are 6 feet tall and McFarlane weighs 193 pounds compared to Morris’ 190. More importantly, neither separated themselves during spring practices as they adjusted to taking the bulk of the carries.

Last season McFarlane rushed for 169 yards on 28 attempts, 86 of them coming on one run and averaging 3.1 yards per carry on all other runs during the season. Morris carried the ball 35 times for 101 yards, an average of 2.9 yards per carry.

Entering training camp, Strickland is listed ahead of Fredericks on the depth chart, though Scout.com rated both with three stars and both put up big-time numbers in their senior years of high school. Strickland ran for 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns on 102 carries at South Brunswick (New Jersey) High School. At Lawrence (New York) High School, Fredericks rushed 184 times for 2,156 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Tim Lester has a stable of unproven running backs in his first full season as offensive coordinator. But with that uncertainty comes the opportunity for players to step up and rebound from last year.