Ashton Broyld has been dismissed from the Syracuse football team for a violation of team rules, preventing the senior from finally emerging as the highly touted offensive weapon he was once thought to be.

It takes away experience from a hybrid position that will seemingly throw an interesting twist in an SU offense that was relatively stagnant last year. Here are the three biggest ways in which Broyld’s dismissal will affect Syracuse.

1. More light on Erv Philips

Philips, a sophomore, was already tops on the depth chart at the hybrid position. After a freshman season in which he showed flashes of dynamic offensive potential, he’s expected to utilize the new position to showcase his wide-ranging skill set.

Though Broyld was listed third on the depth chart at the position behind Philips and Ben Lewis, he was expected to contribute in one way or another.

“Ashton Broyld can line up anywhere on the field,” head coach Scott Shafer said in a Cuse TV interview recapping the post-spring practice depth chart in May.

Now the junior Lewis, who caught 24 passes for 275 yards in 2014, will be relied upon more. But it’s Philips, who was already expected to lead the position group, that will shoulder some of the expectations that the senior-most member of the unit is leaving behind.

2. The final straw on a hampered 4-star prospect

Broyld came to SU in 2012 with hype behind his offensive abilities, but those never materialized. He went through a position switch and was slowed down by injury, missing eight games in 2014.

He led the team with 52 receptions for 452 yards his sophomore season, but that potential was squashed last year due to injury. With a hybrid position that would give his athleticism a platform to explode, Broyld could have flipped the script on his career with a standout senior season.

But instead, the final remark on Broyld’s Syracuse career is one of disappointment rather than one of validation.

3. One less deep threat for Terrel Hunt

Granted, Broyld’s longest reception was 39 yards in 2013 and only 24 last season, but that was still significant on an SU team that didn’t have much downfield success.

Jarrod West was the team’s main deep threat but he’s graduated, and sophomore Steve Ishamel will likely take the reigns as the top receiver and downfield option for Hunt. Broyld still had the fourth-most receiving yards on the team despite only playing a third of SU’s games.

In 2013, Broyld had he second-longest reception of anyone on Syracuse’s preseason depth chart (behind Alvin Cornelius) but will never get a chance for his first receiving touchdown with the Orange.

 

Published on July 28, 2015 at 10:01 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman