Sean Tucker will never be forgotten in Syracuse. It starts with the fact that he was a tremendous player. His 2021 season where he broke the single season rushing record with almost 1,500 yards speaks for itself. The explosiveness he had and how he electrified a fanbase in a way an offensive skill position player hasn’t in a long time speaks volumes.
He gained a cult-like following, from the Heisman chatter that, as nearly all will admit, was never based in reality, but was still fun to have, to the postgame tweets which fans waited for every Sunday.
Unfortunately for Tucker and his draft stock, 2022 was different. He still ran for over 1,000 yards, but over 400 less than he had the year before. The touchdown numbers were almost identical, with 11 in 2022 and 12 in 2021. The biggest difference was the eye test. He didn’t seem to have the burst that he did previously. Part of it was certainly the new offensive system that Robert Anae ran, which focused on the pass game far more than Sterlin Gilbert’s did.
However, if you watched Tucker play, you could tell there was something wrong. What that something was, nobody has any idea. Both Tucker and the team insisted he was healthy. That was not the case after the season, as Tucker dealt with injuries throughout the pre-draft process. He had to have his own pro day the week of the draft after not participating in SU’s official pro day.
Tucker, of course, didn’t end up getting drafted. From a Syracuse perspective, to put it bluntly, it stinks. Tucker is the most exciting player the Orange have had in a long time, and he still didn’t hear his name called across seven rounds of the Draft. Yes, there were clearly injury concerns, but it’s hard to not feel at least a bit upset as an SU fan.
On the brightside, however, Tucker ended up in a place where, despite being an undrafted free agent, he has a shot to make an impact in the NFL. He signed with the Buccaneers, who are not who they have been over the past three years with Tom Brady at quarterback.
Their roster has undergone an overhaul, and not a positive one. Most importantly for Tucker, there isn’t much high end talent at running back. Tampa Bay’s depth chart looks like this: Rachaad White, Chase Edmonds, Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Patrick Laird. Not exactly a position group that can’t be cracked if Tucker is healthy.
So, while it’s a bummer that he wasn’t drafted, Tucker has a chance to make some noise at the next level. Syracuse fans should be, well, pleased, with where he ended up and his chances of sticking in the NFL.
