If we are going to see a lot of that this season, then Syracuse has to be as careful as it can be with Oronde Gadsden heading into 2024.
It took just one game plus an extra few minutes or so before Gadsden’s 2023 campaign came to a sudden end. Lisfranc injuries are no joke, so the recovery plan is something you should not divert from. If the Orange are going to be successful this season, Gadsden has to stay healthy.
With how much talk there’s been about Kyle McCord and Fran Brown entering the program, it’s easy to forget just how dynamic Gadsden was in 2022. The self-proclaimed “football player”, not really describing himself as a receiver or tight end, burst onto the scene with 61 catches for 969 yards and six TDs, providing pass-catcher stability that SU desperately needed (not one player topped 400 receiving yards in 2021).
And if Gadsden’s presence wasn’t evidently missed because Syracuse won its first two games without him (Purdue, Army), it became very evident not long after. As Garrett Shrader began to wore down, the offense lost so much of its versatility and dynamic. This is not a declaration that if Gadsden stayed healthy, SU would’ve triumphed over any of the teams it lost to over the course of its five-game skid. But its chances of winning would have increased significantly.
You shouldn’t read a ton into the fact that Gadsden is having a second surgery, in fact it might honestly be more of a positive. Again, Lisfranc injuries are no joke, and he’s expected to be ready by the time summer workouts arrive. Most of the big name players don’t play in the Spring Game as it is, and Gadsden was probably not going to suit up on April 20 even if he was fully healthy.
Expectations are sky high for the Orange with the season a few months away, probably higher than they ever were in the Dino Babers era. There’s a reasonable confidence that those expectations will probably not be met if Gadsden isn’t healthy, so why risk anything?
Coming into 2023, the storyline surrounding Oronde Gadsden’s season was all about taking the next step. This time around, it’s about staying healthy. Yes, there are a lot of new receivers coming in with Coach Brown, but none of them have proven themselves in Central New York yet. Gadsden has, and let’s hope he puts up another healthy year in 2024.
