With Syracuse football training camp less than a month 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.

Assuming Steve Ishmael has one outside receiver slot locked down, it’s the other outside spot where there will be a key competition.

Alvin Cornelius was listed above Jamal Custis for that spot on the post-spring depth chart and Maryland graduate transfer Amba Etta-Tawo will likely figure into the competition, too.

Syracuse has waited for Cornelius to catch on since his redshirt freshman season. The receiver’s best game still is a seven-catch, 81-yard game against Boston College in 2013, his redshirt freshman season. His second-best game happened the week prior to the BC matchup, against Pittsburgh. Cornelius caught two passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.

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MORE PRESEASON COVERAGE: 

• Storyline No. 9: Revamped conditioning
• Player file No. 10: Cole Murphy
• Position battle No. 10: Cordell Hudson vs. Juwan Dowels

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Since then, Cornelius has had one multi-catch game. Those two games account for 50 percent of his career catches, just shy of 60 percent of his career yards and he hasn’t scored a touchdown since. His underwhelming career to date makes his position battle with Custis worth keeping an eye on.

Custis stands 6-feet, 6-inches tall. While he was recruited, Custis ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash, per Scout.com. Despite his on-field results (so far) not matching his apparent athleticism, Custis is only two years into his career. If he has refined his skills as a receiver — following through on catches, maintaining the right position down the field — and can capitalize on his height, he could take Cornelius’ spot.

Like Cornelius, Etta-Tawo’s best season was as a freshman. Etta-Tawo caught 31 passes for 500 yards. Scout listed his 40-yard dash time at 4.59 during the receiver’s senior year of high school. Just on production, Etta-Tawo has the edge, but whether Cornelius and Custis can capitalize their abilities in Dino Babers’ offense is yet to be determined.

Published on July 18, 2016 at 12:31 am

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati