With Syracuse football training camp a few weeks 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.

If there’s one downside to Syracuse football in 2016, it’s that the Orange doesn’t have a clear-cut Heisman contender anymore. Riley Dixon is gone. Press the panic button.

In all seriousness, Dixon was an extremely valuable weapon for SU amid all the hoopla of his faux Heisman campaign and fake-punt antics. He’s actually doing pretty well with the Denver Broncos, it seems, after the reigning Super Bowl runners-up took him in the seventh round of the NFL Draft.

Dixon’s likely heir as punter is redshirt freshman Sterling Hofrichter, who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds on the post-spring depth chart. He’s also the only punter listed on the depth chart. Hofrichter was recruited for his big leg by Scott Shafer even though his stature may not indicate it. Don’t expect too vast of a drop-off.

Last season, Dixon averaged 43.68 yards per punt with 18 punts traveling 50 or more yards. He downed 28 of his 65 punts inside the 20-yard line and even ran for 29 yards on three rushes, the most memorable mad dash coming against LSU when he hurdled Kevin Toliver on a fake field goal and proceeded to inadvertently punch another Tiger in the head while celebrating.

Don’t expect such fanfare with Hofrichter, rather a steady leg from the first-year field player as he takes the reigns from the fan favorite. Especially with SU’s dismal defense last year, Dixon’s ability to give the defense ample field position to work with might have bailed it out even more.

There are holes on that side of the ball again, so Hofrichter’s role will be just as important in his first sniff at playing time.