FB : Getting settled
During summer workouts, Da’Mon Merkerson lined up to run his ‘quick time.’ The drill, which measures a player’s speed in his initial 5-yard burst from the line of scrimmage, was something he and fellow Syracuse sophomore wide receiver Donte Davis did not enjoy.
‘Me and Donte, we were talking about it, like ‘We hate the quick time,” Merkerson said. ‘It doesn’t measure real speed.’Five yards and .99 seconds later, Merkerson had set a new SU record.
‘That’s when everybody knew, like ‘Oh man, this dude’s really fast,” Davis said. ‘He’s turning heads out here.’
After bouncing back and forth between positions – he started the season at cornerback after playing wideout his freshman season – it appears Merkerson has finally found his niche as a wide receiver.
He had his breakout game two weeks ago against Louisville when he caught three passes for 68 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown. On a team without a clear-cut No. 1 receiver, Merkerson has cracked the receiver rotation and is vying for more playing time.
‘He has tools that the other guys don’t,’ wide receivers coach Chris White said. ‘He’s very explosive getting in and out of cuts.’
Merkerson’s shuffling from position to position put his mental abilities to the test. He spent last season as a wideout, catching eight passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. But in the spring, the sophomore was moved to cornerback. He challenged for a starting spot in the summer, and played regularly in the early part of Syracuse’s season. Finally, he was moved back to receiver against West Virginia on Oct. 11 to boost a struggling unit.
Like Merkerson, senior safety Bruce Williams has switched between wide receiver and the defensive secondary several times. He started the year at receiver before going back to safety.
‘When I got switched to receiver, the first thing I said was ‘Why don’t Da’Mon go back first?” Williams said. ‘It worked out for Da’Mon and me that we’re on the sides of the ball where we feel we belong.’
Williams, a team captain, could sense that Merkerson’s passion lies more on the offensive side of the football than on defense.
‘I know for a fact being out there with him that he wasn’t happy on defense,’ Williams said. ‘He got that feeling that offense is in his heart.’
Merkerson’s switch back to offense reunited him with Davis, who leads SU with 27 receptions for 278 yards. The two share a very close relationship both on and off the field.
‘To me (Da’Mon)’s like a brother because we’re so close and we just laugh all the time and joke all the time, even in practice,’ Davis said.
‘It’s like a show with me and him,’ Merkerson said. ‘We’re always just clowning.’
Merkerson describes himself as ‘shy and timid’ off the field, but Davis said Merkerson carries himself differently away from football.
Merkerson has to maintain his focus year-round. He runs indoor track in the offseason, something White believes benefits his football abilities.
‘He was a great track guy in high school,’ White said. ‘He knows how to really explode out of his stance.’
Merkerson’s athletic abilities run in his family. His father, Amod Field, won two individual titles at Montclair State in the 400-meter hurdles in 1987 and 1989, and later played in the NFL for the Phoenix Cardinals in 1991. Growing up, most of the stories Merkerson heard about his father were second-hand.
‘My father honestly didn’t talk a lot about what he did,’ Merkerson said. ‘I would hear that more from the people in my neighborhood.’
Though he graduated from Saint Mary High School in New Jersey, Merkerson’s family moved several times when he was younger because his mother, Rosalind, was in the National Guard. Merkerson was born in Germany, and at one point lived in Hawaii.
After excelling athletically in high school, Merkerson turned down offers from Virginia and Connecticut, citing SU’s academic program as the biggest factor in his decision.
Now that he knows where he stands with Orange, Merkerson has dedicated himself to learning the nuances of the receiver position. He hopes to use another facet of his game to help SU put up points.
‘Next I think I would like to spring the block for a touchdown,’ he said. ‘I think I would like to be the key block that the running back cuts off to get into the end zone.’
Merkerson was held without a catch in last week’s 35-17 loss at Rutgers, though he did recover a blocked punt for a touchdown. Still, his attitude and abilities have impressed older players and coaches.
‘Da’Mon worked really hard in practice,’ SU head coach Greg Robinson said. ‘He’s a very hard worker. His attention to detail is great.’
And, of course, he has the record-setting quickness.
‘Da’Mon’s going to be a fine receiver,’ Williams said. ‘He brings something that I didn’t have at receiver. He ran a .99 quick time. That’s the best in Syracuse history.’
