With Syracuse football training camp less than two days 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.

Syracuse’s defensive ends had a combined zero snaps at the position last season and all but one have never played collegiately at the spot. Between the top four D-ends on the post-spring depth chart, Jake Pickard, Kenneth Ruff, Trey Dunkelberger and Hernz Laguerre comprise a unit that provides the most worry of any on either side of the ball heading into the season.

It’ll be a battle royale of sorts to determine who the permanents are at the spot, with Pickard and Ruff tentatively owning the two starting spots. Pickard flipped from Wisconsin to Syracuse, choosing the Orange also over Michigan in his recruiting process, but the now-redshirt freshman didn’t see the field last year.

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MORE PRESEASON COVERAGE:

• Storyline, No. 1: Dino Babers’ offense
• Position battle, No. 3: Michael Lasker vs. Cody Conway
• Storyline, No. 3: Can Eric Dungey stay in pocket?

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Ruff was an early enrollee and is in his first season with the Orange. Last year, Syracuse didn’t have a true freshman start on defense. The Orange also brought in Colorado grad transfer De’Jon Wilson, who played in 20 games in 2013 and 2014, but wasn’t on campus in the spring so where he slots into the mix is still to be determined.

The departures of junior Luke Arciniega and senior Donnie Simmons, along with junior Ron Thompson to the NFL Draft, left a void on the front line and Syracuse without its top two sack leaders from 2015. If the youngsters don’t work out, the 22-year-old Dunkelberger and redshirt senior Laguerre will be called upon and both are in their first year at the position.

Dunkelberger played tight end sparingly in his first year at SU last season following his transfer from JUCO Pierce College, and Laguerre is a walk-on who’s been listed as a linebacker for his entire career.

Freshmen Josh Black, Kendall Coleman and Jaquwan Nelson round out the group and the possibility of early playing time was a key selling point during the recruiting process.

Regardless of who’s at the position, it should provide some tense moments for the new coaching staff while trying to improve a defense that was far from impressive last season.

Published on August 4, 2016 at 7:43 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman