Standout freshman unlikely to play for Syracuse football again this season

Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse freshman defensive back Marcellus Barnes is unlikely to play for the Orange again this season, head coach Fran Brown said on Thursday.
Brown provided the update on Barnes’ status during his weekly appearance on Orange Nation on ESPN Radio Syracuse. Brown brought up Barnes following a question about injuries. He did not specify what the injury was but said it was something likely to last the rest of the year.
“I don’t think Marcellus Barnes is going to play any more this year,” Brown said.
Barnes has played in five games this season for Syracuse, making 11 tackles and making three pass break-ups.
He was one of the early jewels in Brown’s first recruiting class with the Orange and was one of the most high-impact freshman on the team this year, along with defensive tackle Maraad Watson.
Barnes has played in five games this season for Syracuse, making 11 tackles and making three pass break-ups. The five games played means that, barring something unusual, he would not be able to consider this a redshirt or medica redshirt season.
Syracuse still has a pair of starting-level cornerbacks on the roster in Clarence Lewis and Jayden Bellamy but the loss of Barnes will hurt SU’s depth at the position coming down the stretch.
According to Pro Football Focus, Barnes played a season-high 47 snaps against Virginia Tech, part of a very even timeshare with Lewis and Bellamy. He played a substantial number of snaps in SU’s first two games of the season and then played sparingly against Stanford and Pittsburgh as he eased his way back from back spasms.
The next player on the depth chart in terms of experience is Greg Delaine. True freshmen Davien Kerr and Ibn McDaniels have played sparingly as freshmen.
Brown also noted that wide receiver Yazeed Haynes is at least a couple weeks away from making a return to game action for the Orange.
Haynes has returned to the team on a full-time basis but Brown said that he has currently only been doing off-field conditioning. Haynes will need to return to on-field work and likely need some practice before returning to game action.
“He’s got to get a couple weeks of practice under his belt,” Brown said. “We’ve got to keep trying to figure things out that way. He wouldn’t be ready to do anything with us. He just got a chance to come in. He’s been working out in the weight room right now and things of tht nature. After that we’ll move on to field next just to see. But it’s hard to just come back and play a sport in college. … It’s going to take a little bit of time.”
Contact Chris Carlson anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-382-7932
Fans can stream Syracuse football all season on fuboTV, and get cheap tickets to see the Orange from SeatGeek. Fanatics has a full collection of Syracuse Orange gear to shop online