Boston College Eagles 2018 Football Preview

Boston College Eagles 2018 Football Preview

Opening Statement: Steve Addazio has had his struggles in turning the Eagles into a player among the ACC elite, but last season had to be encouraging to some degree, even though the Eagles won just 7 games. What was encouraging was the upswing in the offense, which improved from scoring 17.2 points per game in 2015, to scoring 25.7 per game in 2017. The improvements have been coming, if slowly, but will that trend continue in 2018?

Breakdown Offense: The Eagles struggled to throw the football in 2018, averaging just 166.3 yards per game, but the run game picked up the tab, averaging 220.38 yards per game last fall. We may see more of the same this fall, as there are stars in the run game that could carry the day once again.

Anthony Brown had knee surgery and sat out spring ball, but should be right on schedule to return in the fall. He passed for 1367 yards in 10 games, but even more worth watching is how he improves on a concerning TD to INT ratio that borders on 1:1. He tossed 11 TDs to 9 picks last fall as a freshman. EJ Perry and John Fadule took all the reps in the spring, and either could step up if Brown is unavailable. That said, neither has taken a live game snap.

AJ Dillon's amazing freshman campaign (1589 yards, 14 scores) looks to carry over into his sophomore campaign. He returns as one of the top 8 backs in the nation. Travis Levy is the primary backup, but carried just 21 times last fall. Jon Hillman, who rushed for over 600 yards last fall, is gone. If Dillon is injured, this could go from being a strength position, to a major weakness.

Kobay White returns at WR after he caught 34 passes a year ago, and he is joined in the starting lineup by Michael Walker, who caught 19 passes last fall. Jeff Smith returns as well, after finishing with 25 catches, and should get plenty of reps. Ben Glines and Nolan Borgerson return as reserves, as does Chris Garrison.

Tommy Sweeney returns as the TE after leading BC in receiving last fall with a line of 36-512-4. He should once again be one of the primary weapons in what BC has for a passing attack. Ray Marten should be the primary backup, but Korab Idrizi will be in the fight as will Jake Burt.

The line is always a solid area for BC, and should be once again in 2018. Aaron Monteiro (LT), John Phillips (LG), and Ben Petrula (C) are projected as starters, while Chris Lindstrom will likely win the RT job. That leaves the RG job open for a battle in fall camp. Depth is not great, so that could be an issue if injuries set in.

Breakdown Defense: The Eagles were rock solid on defense last fall, allowing just 22.8 points per game good for a ranking of 36th nationally. They allowed just 191.9 yards passing per game, while allowing 190.92 yards rushing per game.

Zach Allen returns at DE, and Wyatt Ray is slated to try to fill the departure of Harold Landry. Allen was a force last fall, recording 15.5 TFLs, and is one of the best DEs in the ACC and the nation. He finished 2nd on the team with 100 tackles. Ray was solid in rotation, as he finished the year with 4 TFLs. Tanner Karafa and Bryce Morais are slated to be in reserve at the DE position. Ray Smith returns as the NT, and is basically an Earth mover in the middle that takes up blocks. The DT job is wide open, and depth in the middle is thin.

Ty Schwab is gone, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the defense. He led the Eagles last fall with 107 tackles from his LB spot. Kevin Bletzer and Davon Jones are slated to win the OLB jobs. Bletzer finished with 35 tackles, while Jones had just 23. John Lamot is projected to start in the middle, and is clearly the leader of the group now, as he finished with 63 tackles. Isaiah McDuffie and Isaiah Miranda are projected to back up at the OLB spots, while depth is still being sorted out at MLB. They combined for 10 total tackles last fall.

Taj-Amir Torres and Hamp Cheevers are the listed starters out of spring ball at CB. They combined for 7 PBUs last fall. Depth, once again, is an issue, as experience behind these two is thin. Lukas Denis is the returning starter at FS, and is the leader in the secondary. Denis knocked away 10 passes last season and finished with 83 tackles, while also being one of the national leaders with 7 INTs. Will Harris returns at SS, and finished with 83 tackles last fall. Depth at the Safety spots, again, is thin.

Breakdown Special Teams: Colton Lichtenberg really struggled at PK last season, and left 24 points worth of missed FGs on the field after connecting on just 12/20. He maintains the starting job...for now.

Grant Carlson gives the Eagles a new direction at Punter after Mike Knoll ended his career with a 39.99 yard average last fall. The Eagles are hoping for rampant improvement at the position with Carlson.

Walker will handle both KR and PR duties. He averaged 23.58 yards per KR last fall, and a solid 13.11 yards per PR.

Final Analysis: As good as the rushing attack could be, and as solid as the front line starters on the D line and in the secondary could be, I still have trouble buying into BC as a serious contender in the ACC this fall. As a matter of fact, I could see a slide in store for the Eagles in 2018, as a lack of depth could come into play if and when injuries start setting in. The Eagle simply don't have the kind of depth to carry them at any position once bad things happen, and that tells me that there are some deeper problems on the roster than need to be considered. Don't be shocked if we are talking about Addazio being on the hot seat again at some point this season.