Da’Mon Merkerson’s career statistics don’t exactly place him in Syracuse football lore. He played on both sides of the ball throughout his time from 2007–10, catching 14 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns as a wide receiver, and collecting 59 total tackles and two interceptions as a cornerback.
But in the Orange’s last two training camps, Merkerson’s been used as a precedent. Last August, SU head coach Scott Shafer used the story of moving Merkerson to defense to express excitement for the same transition for now-sophomore cornerback Corey Winfield.
On Friday, Shafer used Merkerson to illustrate confidence in a secondary with eight moving parts but no definitive starters six days into training camp.