This Sunday features America’s biggest matchup in the sports calendar. Millions will gather around the television to watch two juggernauts take each other on, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles in the 59th Super Bowl. This late in the season it is expected for both rosters to be riddled with injuries leaving both teams not 100% full strength.
For this article we will be taking a look at the holes in both rosters and where SUNY Cortland football players could fill in those spots if it came down to it.
For starters, the Kansas City Chiefs are down a few men at two pivotal positions, those being the wide receiver room as well as the offensive line. Most notably the biggest injury sustained was Patrick Mahomes number one passing option Rashee Rice. To substitute for Rice and give this offense some relief with a down field threat that can call his own number.
Senior from Westhampton beach Jaden AlfanoStJohn a leader both on and off of the field who consistently put up numbers throughout this past season. Averaging 85 receiving yards per game, on top of that he ended up in the endzone 13 times leading the team in scores. AlfanoStJohn was involved in a very creative playbook which featured him getting the ball both through the air and on the ground.
We know Andy Reid’s playbook as being creative and complex, filled with many hacks to success, Cortland’s west coast, high speed offensive scheme does fit the Kansas City model and AlfanoStJohn would provide a lot of support for Mahomes if he got the call. Switching our focus to the other sideline, the Philadelphia Eagles, although they are the better overall team coming into this matchup and have so much talent spread throughout the roster, there is a position group that a Cortland Football player could fill and exceed at.
#7 cornerback Nazair Jean-Lubin who would be playing opposite of Darius Slay would dominate as the weak side cornerback. In a defensive scheme that poses a scary defensive line with studs across the board. Jean-Lubin is a young buck who has instinctual ability and a nose for the football, Jean-Lubin led Cortland with four interceptions and finished second with six pass breakups in 12 games. He also totaled 18 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Jean-Lubin intercepted two passes at Brockport, the second of which clinched the victory in the closing seconds, and he intercepted a pass to seal Cortland’s home win over Ithaca. Alongside a young secondary filled with hungry players, Jean-Lubin would fit in this scheme well and excel with the leadership in the locker room behind him.
Overall, this hypothetical piece highlights the talent and success of Cortland players and where they would fit in on the biggest stage in the football year.