I'm not a Duke fan. I have no ties to the university, nor do I root for any of its athletic programs. However, I've been rooting for former Blue Devil point guard Greg Paulus to do big things in his newfound position as Syracuse University quarterback.
Yes, that's right, he went from playing basketball at one school to playing football at another.
An NCAA by-law allows students who complete their degrees in four years to use their 5th year of eligibility at any school, so long as it's in another sport. He could've played football at Duke, but coach David Cutcliffe wasn't interested. He could've played lacrosse at Syracuse, but Paulus wasn't an All-American high school lacrosse player; he was a high school All-American in football, though.
Coming from the Syracuse area out of high school, Paulus was a big time quarterback recruit, so hearing that he was returning to SU to try to play the position again was intriguing news. The hometown boy goes back to help out the struggling local program after years of playing another sport. Now that I read it, it doesn't make much sense, but it is intriguing. How would he do? Does he still have his football skills? Would the return be worth it if he's simply a backup?
Well, some of these questions have been answered. Greg Paulus is the starting quarterback at Syracuse.
I salute coach Doug Marrone for taking a chance on him. If you've seen the Orange play lately, you know that there isn't much talent on that team. Playing a quarterback who probably isn't very skilled doesn't make much sense. At least we know, at one point, Paulus had considerable skill as a quarterback. Marrone is in his first year and has a long rebuilding job ahead of him, why not take a chance? If Paulus remembers how to play the position well, and shows that early in the season, Syracuse could surprise in a diluted Big East conference. If he isn't very good and the Orange play poorly, nothing is lost because they had the same quarterbacks last year and played poorly. Marrone is building towards the future, and his quarterback of the future is probably not even enrolled yet. You might as well give the keys to a guy who was a good quarterback four years ago as opposed to a guy who never was.
What will Paulus do this season? I honestly have no idea. I could see him being better than average, relying on stud receiver Mike Williams, and taking the Orange to a lower-tier bowl game with a 6-6 record. I could also see him crashing and burning, taking the Orange to a 3-9 record and thinking, "well, at least I had fun." Everything is in play here, save for a conference championship. Not even Hollywood has stories that far-fetched. At the end of the day, Syracuse is a greatly flawed team that, despite the new energy and intellect brought by Marrone and his staff (who I think will do a superb job, by the way), is too far behind the heavy hitters in the Big East talent-wise to make much of a splash.
No matter how he does, I appreciate the fact that in a sport so ripe with storylines and question marks, Greg Paulus has supplied us with one worth rooting for. Best of luck to you, pal; don't forget to look off the safety before you throw the deep ball.
~~ Lank
No comments:
Post a Comment