Syracuse football: Orange return a lot of production in 2023

Syracuse Orange football hasn’t begun spring practice but we’re already looking ahead to the 2023 season.

Yesterday Bill Connelly of ESPN released his “Returning Production Rankings” for all FBS teams. It’s an Insider exclusive so we’ll give you the Syracuse-centric information.

The Orange ranked 23rd with 73% of their production returning. If you’re wondering how it breaks down, it’s 73% on offense (ranked 39th) and 72% on defense (ranked 33rd). Bill’s formula breaks down things like this:

Percent of returning WR/TE receiving yards: 24% of the overall number

Percent of returning QB passing yards: 23%

Percent of returning OL snaps: 47%

Percent of returning RB rushing yards: 6%

Percent of returning tackles: 70%

Percent of returning passes defensed: 14%

Percent of returning tackles for loss: 12%

Percent of returning sacks: 4%

While the Orange are going to be without several key contributors from 2022, there should be hope that returning players like Garrett Shrader, Oronde Gadsden II, Caleb Okechukwu and Marlowe Wax will provide them with similar play in 2023. Building around those players can help ease some of the losses Syracuse will have to deal with next fall.

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Syracuse is the 3rd ACC team on Bill’s list behind Florida State (1st) and Boston College (8th). The other 2023 opponents are ranked as follows:

Western Michigan (121st), Army (60th), Purdue (57th), Clemson (36th), UNC (43rd), Virginia Tech (38th), Pitt (119th), Georgia Tech (47th), and Wake Forest (112th)

This is no guarantee for on-field success in 2023, but there should be a bit of hope that the Orange have something to build upon this spring and summer. As we move forward into practices we’ll be looking to see which players will start to emerge as the next wave of contributors for Dino Babers.