Wide receiver/running back/former quarterback Ashton Broyld was dismissed from SU’s football program early Tuesday afternoon.  Like defensive lineman Wayne Williams before him, Broyld became the latest player to be kicked off the team.  Yet, unlike Williams, Broyld always seemed to be in the fold on offense and was finally expected to contribute in his fourth season with the team.
Citing off field issues, however, the talented, former four-star recruit has been dismissed from the program.  From the moment he stepped onto the hill in 2012, fans and the coaching staff were excited about the varied skillset that the hybrid player would bring to the offensive playbook.  However, after two full seasons and another shortened by injury, Broyld finishes his Orange career with just one touchdown, which was scored in his first year with the team.
Like Williams, Broyld had a slightly troubled history, as he was suspended during his senior year of high school.  If not for Doug Marrone, the recruit may have never made it to campus.  Shafer has taken a different approach, now looking for quality recruits over quantity, perhaps to avoid situations like this.
For the past three seasons, the optimistic outlook for Broyld was always sky high.  Yet, for some reason, he was never able to put it together fully on the field.  To be fair, he improved from freshman to sophomore year and if he remained healthy last season, he could have cemented himself as a key player in the Orange’s offensive plan moving forward.
While his senior season could have finally been the breakout campaign everyone was waiting for, it was highly unlikely.  In SU’s bubble screen-happy offense, Broyld had the best chance to put up numbers as a featured player on the outside.  Instead, he saw himself fall to third on the post-spring depth chart behind Ben Lewis and Erv Phillips.
Regardless, Broyld will go down as one of the biggest disappointments and one of the biggest question marks in the Marrone and Scott Shafer era.  His work ethic, tendency to drop passes and trouble with the playbook weighed him down, despite his enormously high ceiling.  His Orange career will close with 74 catches for 679 yards and 173 rushing yards on 38 carriers with just one score.
