Someone, anyone not named Mike Williams, needed to step up. Each dog day of preseason camp passed without a wide receiver ascending into the starting spot opposite Williams. Drops and inconsistency reigned.

All August, Syracuse head football coach Doug Marrone repeated this message like a broken record.

The receivers heard him, loud and clear.

‘They had a lot of pressure,’ Williams said. ‘Coach kept telling the papers [the receivers] were dropping the ball and not playing to his expectations. They really took that to heart.’

With new Orange offensive coordinator Rob Spence scrapping the predictable, run-first scheme of the past for a complex multi-receiver attack, Syracuse needs weapons on the outside. Defenses are bound to cheat extra defenders in Williams’ vicinity. His play is proven. He is the one that went nine straight games with a touchdown catch just two years ago. Back from a one-year academic suspension, Williams will be emblazoned atop every opponent’s game plan.

He will need help.

Ideally, Spence would like to treat SU’s group of receivers like a bullpen, dipping into their different skills with different packages: Donte Davis will nestle in the slot position, where he said it has been easier to get open. His small, elusive frame is suited for poking into zone defenses. After a big spring, sophomore Marcus Sales will shoulder a larger role. Da’Mon Merkerson, a sprinter on the Syracuse track & field team, could be situational lightning in a bottle. Senior Lavar Lobdell, who had scholarship offers from Florida and Miami (Fla.), has yet to catch a touchdown in college. Van Chew is also in the mix while converted cornerback Torian Phillips will be a kick returner.

No one seized the No. 2 job in camp, until this Monday.

On the season-opening depth chart, true freshman Alec Lemon was listed as a starter. While the D-word – drops- was laced into Marrone’s post-practice analysis of his receivers, so was Lemon’s name. He was the surprise of camp.

Hunting for the best receivers behind Williams became a science for Syracuse coaches. They charted every catchable ball thrown to every receiver. Thus, each receiver had a glaring catch/drop ratio attached to his name.

Williams, as you would expect, produced the highest ratio. As camp progressed, the competition behind him heated up and receivers were needling Williams for his snaps. Each rep was a chance to stand out. Each rep was documented.

With a catch percentage above 90, Lemon snared the No. 2 job. For now. The real test will be Saturday when Minnesota dares Lemon and all of the other Orange receivers to make a play.

‘Now he has to get to the next step,’ Marrone said. ‘He’s proved he can do it in practice. He has been very consistent. He has shown he can go over the middle and make the tough catches. Now, it’s a different evaluation. Until you see him do it in the game, that’s the big test. That’s what is next for Alec Lemon.’

Marrone suspected the Nintendo-like numbers Lemon put up in high school were no fluke when the sleek, 6-foot-2 receiver wasn’t rag-dolled in the running game. Lemon was a rugged (and willing) blocker, something rare in an age when divas flood the position.

‘It’s just a matter with those receivers if they are physical enough to play,’ Marrone said Monday. ‘Can they block? Can they catch? Can they go over the middle? Can they do all those things from a physical standpoint? Are they smart enough to move around to different positions? Alec Lemon has done that.’

As a senior at Arundel (Md.) Senior High School, Lemon set state records in receiving yards (1,616) and tied for first in receptions (103) and touchdowns (23). In his final high school game ever, while fighting double- and triple-teams, Lemon made 16 catches for 277 yards and two touchdowns. He chose Syracuse over a host of Division I-AA schools and Vanderbilt, which was ‘just too slow’ with its offer, Lemon said.

Lemon is the most complete player among the bevy of receivers behind Williams.

‘He adjusts very well to the ball in the air,’ said wide receivers coach Jaime Elizondo. ‘He is able to get balls thrown behind him. And he’s learning the system very quickly.’

Snapping his fingers several times in rhythmic fashion, Elizondo explained how Lemon is reaching a point where he’s not thinking, rather reacting, to different situations at ‘100 miles per hour.’ This point is important, considering Lemon came to Syracuse armed with a rare hunger when the ball is in the air.

Elizondo, who groomed NFL star receiver Marques Colston at Hofstra, said he dedicates hours upon hours, developing receivers’ hands. But some guys are naturals, possessing a Velcro grip. ‘Alec is one of those guys,’ Elizondo said. ‘He is a pure catcher and attacks the ball when he is coming back to it on a hook-type route and also attacks it in the air.’

A quarterback his entire life, Lemon moved to wide receiver during his sophomore year of high school. The quarterback ahead of him was a junior and Lemon wanted to see the field. Thus, Lemon thinks like a quarterback. When he walks up to the line, he still dissects the coverages to find the soft spot.

‘Being a quarterback first, you know what you need to look for,’ Lemon said. ‘When I see what the safety is doing, I know what the quarterback is thinking.’

Playing in a similar spread offense at Arundel helped Spence’s transition to the Orange’s run-and-gun scheme too, though Lemon admits he has a ways to go with his X’s and O’s. In high school, he didn’t even have a playbook. This year – spreading his thumb and index finger to demonstrate its size – Lemon lugs around Spence’s dense playbook.

Lemon seems to learn something new every time he opens the book. ‘I’m still trying to make the jump from high school to college,’ Lemon said. ‘I’m learning the concepts and all the adjustments we need to do on the fly.’

Then again, so are all of the Syracuse wide receivers. Players say weren’t asked last year to make adjustments on the fly. Option routes didn’t exist in the offense. Improvisation was handcuffed.

Now, if a cornerback is in press coverage or giving a generous cushion, wide outs have the liberty to change the route.

‘This year we have more freedom,’ said Sales, who had 14 receptions for 160 yards with one touchdown in 2008. ‘We can just make plays. That’s a big thing. When you give a wide receiver more freedom, there’s a bigger chance of him making a play.’

That freedom can backfire. If static scrambles the communication between quarterback Greg Paulus and a receiver, and Paulus throws one way and the receiver cuts the other way, interceptions could follow. Sales, though, is not worried.

‘As long as we’re on the same page and stay in the film room, we will be all right,’ Sales said.

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on August 31, 2009 at 12:00 pm