Projecting BC’s Two-Deep After Spring Ball
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
With spring ball in the rear view mirror, it’s time to project Boston College’s Week 1 depth chart.
Now, keep in mind, this is a projection, which means that it may—and likely will—not be entirely accurate. After all, training camp features position battles annually, not to mention that injuries can still occur before the season opener.
That said, why not take a crack at the two-deep?
Without further ado, let’s get at it.
EA's Projected Two-Deep for BC's 2022 Offense
| POSITION | STARTER | BACKUP |
|---|---|---|
| WR (Z) | 4 Zay Flowers (Sr.) | 9 Dante Reynolds (R-Fr.) |
| WR (X) | 0 Jaden Williams (So.) | 84 Taji Johnson (Jr.) |
| WR (F) | 1 Jaelen Gill (R-Sr.) | 11 Lewis Bond (R-Fr.) |
| LT | 67 Jack Conley (R-Jr.) | 77 Jude Bowry (Fr.) |
| LG | 74 Finn Dirstine (R-Sr.) | 58 Blerim Rustemi (R-Jr.) |
| C | 66 Drew Kendall (R-Fr.) | 78 Jackson Ness (R-Jr.) |
| RG | 73 Christian Mahogany (R-Jr.) | 62 Otto Hess (R-Fr.) |
| RT | 70 Ozzy Trapilo (R-So.) | 79 Kevin Cline (R-So.) |
| TE | 16 Joey Luchetti (R-Sr.) | 80 George Takacs (Gr.) |
| QB | 5 Phil Jurkovec (R-Sr.) | 14 Emmett Morehead (R-Fr.) |
| RB | 24 Pat Garwo III (R-Jr.) | 6 Alec Sinkfield (Gr.) |
EA's Projected Two-Deep for BC's 2022 Defense
| POSITION | STARTER | BACKUP |
|---|---|---|
| DE | 6 Donovan Ezeiruaku (So.) | 97 Marcus Valdez (Gr.) |
| DT | 93 Chibueze Onwuka (Gr.) | 92 Izaiah Henderson (R-Jr.) |
| DT | 96 Cam Horsley (Jr.) | 13 Khris Banks (R-Sr.) |
| DE | 11 Shitta Sillah (Sr.) | 90 Ty Clemons (R-Fr.) |
| MLB | 42 Vinny DePalma (R-Sr.) | 2 Bryce Steele (So.) |
| SLB | 5 Kam Arnold (Jr.) | 8 Jaylen Blackwell (R-Fr.) |
| NB | 21 Josh DeBerry (Sr.) | 3 Jason Maitre (R-Sr.) |
| CB | 20 Elijah Jones (R-Sr.) | 24 Amari Jackson (Fr.) |
| CB | 1 CJ Burton (So.) | 14 Jalon Williams (R-Fr.) |
| SS | 9 Jaiden Woodbey (R-Sr.) | 35 Jalen Williams (R-Jr.) |
| FS | 23 Cole Batson (R-Fr.) | 30 Steve Lubischer (R-Jr.) |
EA's Projected Two-Deep for BC's 2022 Specialists
| POSITION | STARTER | BACKUP |
|---|---|---|
| K | 90 Connor Lytton (So.) | 99 Danny Longman (Gr.) |
| P | 99 Danny Longman (Gr.) | 26 Sam Candotti (Fr.) |
| KR | 7 Xavier Coleman (R-Fr.) | 6 Alec Sinkfield (Gr.) |
| PR | 1 Jaelen Gill (R-Sr.) | 4 Zay Flowers (Sr.) |
The tight end position could be by committee: I think we’ll see a good bit of 12-personnel this year, meaning that there will be two tight ends on the field most of the time. Right now, that figures to be Joey Luchetti and Notre Dame transfer George Takacs. But don’t be surprised to see Spencer Witter get some targets and maybe even Hans Lillis or Charlie Gordinier get some snaps, too. Remember, offensive coordinator John McNulty was most recently the tight ends coach at Notre Dame, where three tight end sets are prevalent.
The backup center position could change: It’s hard to tell where Jackson Ness will fall in the second unit of this offensive line. He played center during the spring game but was at guard a few weeks earlier, at which point Blerim Rustemi was snapping the ball to Emmett Morehead. Ness is an interesting story. He was a three-star recruit from Upper Arlington High School in Ohio, where he played on both sides of the line. Then he came to BC as a defensive end. He redshirted his freshman year and hasn’t been a factor each of the past two seasons. This offseason, he switched back to the offensive side of the ball and now is with the second team.
Expect Xavier Coleman to get reps at running back as well: I think Pat Garwo III will be the bell cow for the Eagles again, however, Alec Sinkfield is clearly cut out to get a piece of the pie, and Xavier Coleman will surely get his touches, too. Coleman was set back by a knee injury last year and ended up redshirting the season after playing just 12 snaps across three non-conference games. He’s taking on more of a FLEX role than being a pure tailback. I think BC will use him like it used Travis Levy, except with a bit more creativity. Similar to how Notre Dame lined up running back Chris Tyree out wide last year, I think you’ll see Coleman on the perimeter for a fair amount of snaps in 2022. But he’ll also be a ball carrier.
It’s a toss-up between Marcus Valdez and Donovan Ezeiruaku: Valdez is back for a sixth and final year, thanks to the COVID-19 waiver. He’s started each of the past two seasons at defensive end and is one of the established leaders on the Eagles’ defense. So it makes sense to shoo him in as a starter. But I don’t think it’s that simple. As a 17-year-old true freshman, Ezeiruaku was already challenging Valdez off the edge. With Valdez hurt for part of spring ball this year, Ezeiruaku got a chance to shine. Ezeiruaku has two inches on Valdez and is a better athlete. His speed could be what BC needs to generate an improved pass rush. Nevertheless, even if Ezeiruaku gets the nod, Valdez will definitely rotate in. He’s coming off a 2021 season, in which he registered 10 more pressures than any other Eagle, plus a career-high five sacks.
Where will Jason Maitre play this season?: It’s a big question. Maitre played nickel in 2020 and flew under the radar as one of BC’s most valuable defensive playmakers. He had five TFLs and brought down quarterbacks twice on 12 blitzes that season. Maitre also lined up in the box for 21 snaps and on the D-Line for four, according to Pro Football Focus. To top it all off, he allowed a 47% completion rate. DeBerry filled that role last season, and Maitre dropped back to free safety until he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury at Syracuse. Maitre is still recovering but was listed as a cornerback again on the spring roster. Will he go back to nickel? Maybe. Will he return to safety, anyway? That seems like the best path to playing time.
Yeah, what about that safety position?: It was so deep last year. The Eagles had two starters at both free and strong safety. But Jahmin Muse transferred to Buffalo, Mike Palmer graduated and Maitre is somewhat of an unknown right now. That leaves strong safety Jaiden Woodbey and then a host of lesser-known names, including free safety Cole Batson, a redshirt freshman who played with the first-team defense during the spring game. Steve Lubischer and Jamareeh “Bug” Jones could both be in play for that spot, too. Of course, as mentioned above, it’s possible Maitre slides back in as the go-to free safety. As for Woodbey’s backup, Jalen Williams was playing in the box in the spring game and appears second in line at that strong safety position.
Punter could go either way: BC brought in Sam Candotti from Niddre Victoria, Australia, to be its punter of the future. Candotti was one of the Eagles’ six mid-years and has been competing with graduate kickoff specialist Danny Longman for both the punter and holder positions. Candotti offers BC different punting styles that could come in handy for pinning opponents. But I think there’s a chance Longman’s leg wins out in training camp. Grant Carlson, who ended up being a four-year starter for BC, redshirted his freshman year. The punter before him was Mike Knoll, who started his Eagles career as a kicker. Candotti might have to wait a little as well.
