Ashton Broyld made plenty of headlines before he ever put on a Syracuse Orange uniform. Now it sounds like he's going to make much, much, much better headlines wearing that uniform.
Doug Marrone told reporters today that Broyld has not only been working at quarterback but also tailback.
"Obviously he’s competing for the quarterback position," Marrone said. "But if he’s not in a position to become a starter or a backup in that role – he’s a very talented individual, so I don’t want to have him on the sidelines. I think he can help us at the running back position."
How good is Broyld, apparently? Marrone is bending over backwards to ensure that the freshman is on the field making things happen. This is a very good sign.
Marrone also made it clear that this is a one-time arrangement and seems to see big things for Ashton in the post-Nassib world:
"That doesn’t mean he’s going to stay at running back forever," Marrone said. "He can play running back for us for a year and still dual-train as a quarterback for the following year."
Marrone has made is clear that he wants to see more running out of the backfield from his quarterback. Now, he's going to have two quarterbacks on the field in some situations. The SU offense sounds like it's going to be quite a bit more dynamic this year. Thank the f***ing Lord.
Syracuse will hold a combined practice and scrimmage from 11:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. in Rochester's Sahlen's Stadium on Saturday.