Head coach Dino Babers planned on position changes before Syracuse opened its spring football campaign, he said.

He had health and depth concerns — there was a lack of security in what Babers calls the underbelly of the team. The most notable change: free safety Antwan Cordy was listed as a slot receiver on opening day of spring practice.

“The last two years he hasn’t been able to finish the season,” Babers said, “and from a special teams and an offensive or defensive standpoint, we need to get him to finish the season just like we need (quarterback Eric) Dungey to finish the season.”

After Syracuse was a senior-led team in 2017, this year’s spring roster is thin. Eighteen players from last season’s roster departed in the off-season via graduation or transfer, and 13 recruits won’t be on campus until this summer. The Orange has to replace seven starters from a year ago, including all three starting linebackers.

“We don’t have depth,” Babers said. “We really don’t have that depth yet. We have to continue to work on it and create it. That’s why we’ve got guys playing multiple positions. There are some positions that are a lot better than others.”

Still recovering from last season’s lower-leg injury, Cordy, a 5-foot-8 senior, looked every bit the part of a slot receiver during early routes vs. air drills — a warmup where quarterbacks throw to receivers against no defense. When a receiver plays well at the slot position, they shift in and out of coverage gaps left in zone defenses and create mismatches inside in one-on-one situations against man schemes.

It was easy to see why Cordy would be a good fit at the position. As receivers worked through their reps and routes got deeper, Cordy’s agility became more apparent. Even at the NFL level, a receiver usually sinks his hips and chops his feet before accelerating out of his break. Cordy looked explosive: his acceleration was effortless, sudden and would’ve created instant separation from a defender.

Still, the move didn’t last long, and Cordy traded his white offensive jersey for an orange one and practiced with the defense after two weeks.

“He has the athletic ability, but he has a lot of stuff to learn before he can start to produce for us,” Babers said.

Unlike the slot position, where junior Sean Riley returns with experience and rising sophomore Nykeim Johnson has impressed his coaches, the defensive secondary has a lot less depth.

Lack of depth also led sophomore Allen Stritzinger to move from running back to corner, presenting a challenge but also a clear path to the field. Stritzinger said running back was a more natural position for him, but the lighter learning curve on defense has helped with the transition.

“Just getting back used to the position has been the hardest part,” Stritzinger said, “but I’ve been adjusting well.”

Most offensive players find that playing defense is less of a strain mentally, especially in the defensive backfield.

There are only a few different forms of coverage. Covers zero through four are the base coverages, and only become complex once combined. A more complicated coverage is cover six, which is cover four on one side of the field and cover two on the other.

Assuming the defensive back knows how to play both coverages, the only learning is knowing which side each coverage is applied to. The farther away from the ball a player is, the easier the game is schematically because there are less potential adjustments.

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“Corner’s cool and I like nickel too,” Stritzinger explained. “At nickel it’s kind of like playing linebacker, so the challenge is just getting the footwork down and stuff like like that.”

For Syracuse’s defense, Stritzinger could be a great fit. The Michigan product was the number three cornerback recruit in the state of Michigan, according to 247sports.com, and even held a Michigan offer to play defensive back.

Stritzinger said he enjoys playing cornerback.

“Only a matter of time before I get it down and play full speed,” he said.

Published on April 12, 2018 at 11:27 pm

Contact Julian: jawhigha@syr.edu | @JulianWhigham