Opening day may be less than a week away, but Greg Robinson is in no rush to make any decisions about his tailbacks.

Syracuse released its depth chart at a press conference Sunday evening, and running back remains the most interesting and competitive position battle on the team.

The depth chart lists senior Curtis Brinkley, redshirt sophomore Delone Carter (both coming off major injuries) or sophomore Doug Hogue as the starter for Saturday’s season-opener against Northwestern, which is exactly where the Orange was at the beginning of training camp.

After an entire summer of trying to fit three backs into roles, it appears the tryouts will continue until the last possible moment. Syracuse fans might not know the starting tailback until someone trots onto the field in Evanston, Ill., for the first snap against Northwestern.

‘I don’t know that I will announce it,’ Robinson said. ‘It might be the day of the game. Those three players have all had very good camps, and each in their own way has done very good things, and we’ll figure out how that’s all going to come about later in the week.’

Throughout camp, Hogue appeared to take the most reps with the first team, coming off a freshman year in which he rushed for 251 yards and a touchdown in nine games. He became the starter for the final four contests after Brinkley suffered a broken leg against Buffalo on Oct. 20 and missed the rest of the season.

Carter did not play at all last year after suffering a hip injury in spring practice. Carter had a stellar freshman season in 2006 when he rushed for 713 yards and four touchdowns.

All month, Robinson has stressed that both Brinkley and Carter are completely healthy and available to play, so the decision will be based solely on merit. Robinson said Sunday he would eventually make a decision after another week of reps and individual conversations with the three players.

Robinson said he is considering playing all three tailbacks against Northwestern, but it is not certain. Though they all will receive carries this season, Robinson hopes to eventually carve out individual roles for each of them.

‘Saturday, there will be a starter,’ Robinson said. ‘Someone’s going to go out there to take the first play. And again, we are going to need them all. We’ll need all three of those guys to carry their load throughout the season.’

Other depth chart notesThe right cornerback situation remains murky as sophomores Nico Scott and Da’Mon Merkerson, a converted wideout, continue to battle for the starting job. The two players have been competing throughout camp, and though Robinson said both will play against the Wildcats, he will not name a starter until later this week.

In a couple position battles that have been resolved, sophomore Derrell Smith beat out fellow sophomore Parker Cantey for the strong-side linebacker job, and sophomore Randy McKinnon came from behind on the depth chart during training camp to beat out senior Paul Chiara and sophomore Max Suter at free safety.

‘Consistency,’ Robinson said about why he chose McKinnon. ‘I think everybody figured it was etched in stone (that someone else would start), but really it wasn’t. That’s why you like to have periods of time, and Randy for a long period of time was very consistent.’

And walking out for the coin toss…Robinson also announced Sunday that four seniors were voted captains this season by the rest of the team: wide receiver Bruce Williams, fullback Tony Fiammetta, linebacker Jake Flaherty and kicker Pat Shadle.

‘This year, more people had votes than any year I have been here,’ Robinson said. ‘I take that as a good thing. The team selected a great group as captains. I am also pleased to see a lot of people looked at as leaders.’

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on August 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm