Sir Alec & Shamarko Shall Lead Us Back To Glory

These days there are a few constants in Syracuse football.  Doug Marrone will "tremendous," "standpoint," "multiple," or "versatile" in a sentence at any given time.  Players will randomly leave the program at inopportune times.  And Alec Lemon may just be The Chosen One.

True sophomore Alec Lemon looks like the clear No. 1 receiver right now. He made a terrific play going one-on-one with corner Rishard Anderson, making a sweet cut to the inside and then burning him deep for an easy touchdown. Doug Marrone praised Lemon on the play, as well as new receivers coach Rob Moore and offered Anderson some encouragement. 

Dan Kelley spent some time at practice yesterday and liked what he saw for the most part.  Especially out of a certain #Shamarko named Shamarko.

Thomas proved himself to be an intimidating hitter last year. This season, I'm predicting that he's going to cause some injuries. The guy is flat-out jacked and once the season gets going, I don't think many opposing receivers are going to like the idea of going over the middle on Shamarko's field.

Excuse me, that's #Shamarko's field.

But as usual, players who aren't on the field remained a major concern for the Orange.  With FB Carl Cutler out for the rest of spring and possibly the season, the Orange needed to fill a depth chart spot. 

Marrone said Adam Harris, a 6-foot-2, 239-pound rising sophomore, will move from linebacker to fullback.

Harris, who was already working at his new position, will join another former linebacker, junior-to-be Shane Kimmel, and redshirt senior Robert Nieves, at a position the coach had hoped to emphasize more this season.

By the time the newbies arrive in July, the Orange will be looking at a roster of around 76 players.  The NCAA limit is 85.  So yet again, the Orange will be playing without a couple extra cards in the shoe.  Hopefully we're just talking about some 2's and 3's.