Syracuse football: Roster updates include Batten, Hindy departures

Over on Syracuse.com, eagle-eyed Stephen Bailey caught a significant collection of Syracuse Orange foootball roster changes today, headlined by the departures of tight end P.J. Batten and offensive lineman Taylor Hindy.

Batten, a redshirt junior, had shuttled back and forth between linebacker and tight end early in his career, but never saw the field. Walk-on redshirt senior Taylor Hindy played briefly against Florida State last year after transferring from Washington in 2014. Batten leaving frees up a scholarship spot, for those worried about the low number available for 2017.

Additionally, the roster update revealed several position changes, many of which were alluded to in recent practices where players were seen at new spots. The most notable switch, as Bailey points out, is freshman Devin Butler’s move to running back/wide receiver, rather than just a pure wideout. It’s almost surprising to see the change after Steve Ishmael raved about his catching skills, and Dino Babers had also previously noted the “slash” positions would vanish.

As expected, Scoop Bradshaw’s now a wide receiver, after working with that position group for the last couple weeks. Also, Jacob Hill’s back to running back (where he was last year), Kyle Kleinberg has moved from linebacker to tight end, and (former track star) Winston Lee moved from running back to defensive back.

One would assume these are the final roster changes (save James Pierre’s potential addition to the secondary) before we see an updated depth chart early next week -- probably Tuesday. Should Pierre make the roster at this point, he’d probably be a redshirt candidate since he’s yet to work with the coaches or in the system at all.