Hope Springs Eternal: Why the Orange Could Begin Their Resurgence In 2009

(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

The decision by Greg Robinson to play plenty of underclassmen on defense may have hurt his chances last year, but there is a chance it could pay huge dividends this season for coach Marrone.

The strength of this year's defense will be the line, anchored by first team all-conference nose tackle Arthur Jones. 

Jones was a man amongst boys last season, but this year he will be leading a veteran squad on the defensive line. Listed as starters alongside him on the spring depth chart are juniors Jared Kimmel and Andrew Lewis as well as sophomore Mikhail Marinovich.  Other guys to keep an eye on will be junior Bud Tribbey and redshirt freshman Chandler Jones (Arthur Jones' brother).

This years corp of linebackers could be the fastest and most athletic that the Orange have had in years. On only the second day of spring practice, Doug Marrone pulled the trigger on a long speculated move to switch Doug Hogue over to outside linebacker.  Coming out of high school, Hogue was recruited by the likes of Penn State to play linebacker and many believe the reason he came to Syracuse was because Greg Robinson promised him the chance to be a running back. 

Hogue will be teaming with the outside linebacker, junior Derrell Smith who was second on the team in tackles last season, and junior middle linebacker Mike Mele who was third on the team in tackles. The group will likely be backed up by senior Mike Stenclik, juniors Parker Cantey and Dan Sheeran (who was also moved over from wide receiver), and sophomore Ryan Gillum. 

The secondary could be the x-factor of Syracuse's upcoming season.  If this unit can exceed expectations, then the Orange should be looking at a pretty solid defense. 

Listed as the starting corners on the spring depth chart are junior Nico Scott and sophomore Kevyn Scott. Backing them up will be sophomores Matt Reid and Grant Mayes. 

In the secondary, noted return specialist, junior Max Suter is listed as the starting strong safety and he will be backed up by junior Randy McKinnon. At the free safety spot, junior Mike Holmes will start in front of sophomore Dorian Graham.

Several of these players have shown flashes of greatness at times, but they've lacked consistency as a unit. Mike Holmes and Max Suter should be the strength of the secondary, as both now have plenty of experience and have shown themselves to be fairly consistent players. Holmes in particular is a tremendous athlete who started at cornerback as a freshman, and spent time at both cornerback and safety last season as a sophomore. 

There is plenty of talent and athleticism in the Syracuse secondary, the key will be overcoming their youth and hopefully taking a few steps forward in their development since last season. The secondary, and the defense as a whole showed signs of improvement near the end of last year, now it will be up to the new coaching staff to see if they can get them to the next level.

5. Doug Marrone > Greg Robinson

Even though Doug Marrone is entirely unproven as a head coach coming off his previous job as the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, it's hard to imagine he could possibly be any worse than Greg Robinson. 

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