With Syracuse football training camp a few weeks away, The Daily Orange beat writers, Chris Libonati, Jon Mettus and Matt Schneidman, will analyze one of the top 10 preseason storylines, top 10 position battles or reveal one of 10 player files each day. Check out dailyorange.com and follow along here to countdown to camp.

There are two tall tasks ahead for Syracuse’s offensive line: replace three starters from last season and adapt to the no-huddle, spread offense that head coach Dino Babers is installing. Neither will be very easy.

Ivan Foy, Rob Trudo and Nick Robinson have all graduated. They started the final game of the year at left tackle, right guard and left guard, respectively. Even Seamus Shanley, who earned the starting right guard spot out of training camp in 2015, is gone from the team.

What’s left is redshirt senior Michael Lasker at left tackle, redshirt sophomore Aaron Roberts at left guard and redshirt senior Jason Emerich at center, according to the post-spring depth chart. Redshirt senior Omari Palmer is slotted to start at right guard and redshirt junior Jamar McGloster is positioned at right tackle.

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MORE PRESEASON STORYLINES:

• Storyline No. 8: Running back depth
• Storyline No. 9: Revamped conditioning
• Storyline No. 10: Tight ends factoring in offense

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Between the five of them, only two have started more than one game in their careers — Emerich and Palmer were starters last year. None of the other three played in more than three games last year. Lasker had played nine games in 2013 and 2014, but redshirted last season with an injury.

“The coaches have high expectations of us,” Emerich said at the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff on Friday. “We have high expectations of ourselves.”

Babers’ expectation of the offensive line is to get into much better shape than what he observed in the spring. Some of the linemen need to lose weight and others need to build muscle, Babers said after one of the spring practices.

Success with the offense revolves around the offensive line, Babers said during an NBC Sports Radio with Newy Scruggs on Tuesday. And the transition from an option-based offense last year will be the most daunting task for the coaching staff, he said.

“You’re only as good as those elephants are,” he said.

The conditioning of the linemen coming into fall camp will play a big role in who starts come Sept. 2.

Published on July 23, 2016 at 11:21 am

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus