With Syracuse football training camp less than one week 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.

The core of Syracuse’s defense lies in its defensive line, head coach Dino Babers said. Without success at the line of scrimmage, teams can’t be successful.

“If I said the lions rule the jungle, that’s not true,” Babers said during an interview on NBC Sports Radio with Newy Scruggs on July 19.  “Hippos rule the water and elephants rule the land. Until you get that, you’re going to have a hard time winning football games.”

The biggest hippos on the defensive line are Kayton Samuels and Steven Clark. They’re the nose tackles — the literal core of the d-line. At 318 pounds and 311 pounds, respectively, they’re also the two heaviest guys on the defensive line.

Samuels started all 12 games last season over Clark and was slotted ahead of him on the post-spring depth chart. Samuels finished his redshirt freshman year with 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Clark had 21 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass defended and two fumble recoveries during his true freshman season.

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MORE POSITION BATTLES TO WATCH

• No. 5: Rodney Williams vs. Kielan Whitner
• No. 6: Nickel cornerback
• No. 7: Antwan Cordy vs. Chauncey Scissum
  

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Even more pressure is going to fall on the nose tackle this season with seven of the Orange’s eight defensive ends from last year not returning in 2016.

Both players tacked on some weight between November and April — the final game depth chart and the post-spring depth chart. Samuels bumped up 18 pounds from 300 and Clark gained 8 pounds from 303. The shape that they’re in come September, compared to what the coaches want, will likely play a role in who gets the nod.

Samuels has a slight edge because of his starting experience, but Clark saw significant playing time, too. Regardless of who is the starter and who is the backup, the situation will likely be similar to last season with both players getting plenty of snaps.

Published on August 1, 2016 at 4:39 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus