Garrett Shrader did what he needed to do for Syracuse to win on Saturday. That’s the biggest headline that came out of SU’s road win over Purdue, only Dino Babers’ 7th in 32 tries on the road against power five opponents as the Orange’s head coach.
With Oronde Gadsden out for the season with a foot injury, it down grades the pass game immensely. Not only does it take a potential thousand yard receiver out of the lineup, it takes away the man opposing defenses had to double team away.
Now, there will not be nearly as many opportunities in single coverage for players like Isaiah Jones, Damien Alford, Umari Hatcher and Donovan Brown, making all of them worse off as a result. Gadsden is not only Syracuse’s best player, but arguably its most indispensable because of that very fact.
With him unavailable and in a game Babers, admittedly, thought was vital in Syracuse’s season given what’s ahead on the schedule, Shrader had to run the ball 25 times. It was an offense reminiscent of 2021, Shrader’s first year under center with SU.
Sterlin Gilbert’s attack that year was built on Shrader and Sean Tucker’s legs, and only asked its quarterback to throw when he needed to, usually unsuccessfully. Shrader showed plenty of improvement as a passer last year, but, given what we saw Saturday, both from a game plan and execution standpoint, a lot of that success seems attributable to Gadsden.
So, the workhorse attitude Shrader had gave Syracuse a successful Saturday night in West Lafayette, but going forward, it’s simply unsustainable. After the game, I asked him how his body felt having taken as many as 30 hits compared to a regular game. Shrader admitted that, while he was happy to not be injured, he definitely felt the effects more than he usually does.
It’s simple for Syracuse: if Shrader isn’t available, this team isn’t going very far. The Orange need to keep their QB healthy. Part of that is on him. Shrader has learned to slide or step out of bounds at times, but too often he still takes unnecessary hits for minimal potential gains.
The other part is on the coaching staff. In certain games and in certain moments, he’ll need to rely on his legs, especially at big points in a game. However, Jason Beck can’t get too reliant on the quarterback running game. He still needs to rely on Shrader’s arm. That also falls on the other receivers. Players like Jones, Alford, Hatcher and Brown have to become better versions of themselves now that Gadsden is gone.
It needs to be a multipronged effort to protect Shrader. Make no mistakes about it, if he gets 20 carries per game, he will not make it through the season, at least not in a state where he’s still physically able to be his dynamic self.
