Will make comebacks more difficult.

Boston College has never had a receiver drafted in the first round. Zay Flowers is about to change that.​

By Ben Volin Globe Staff,Updated April 20, 2023, 10:41 a.m.


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Zay Flowers set program records for receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches.
The jerseys of the program’s 21 first-round NFL draft picks hang in the end zone at Boston College’s Fish Field House.
There is a former NFL MVP in quarterback Matt Ryan. A likely Hall of Famer in linebacker Luke Kuechly. Super Bowl champions in B.J. Raji, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Damien Woody. Several dominant offensive linemen, including recent first-rounders Zion Johnson, Chris Lindstrom, and Anthony Castonzo.
What’s missing is a jersey from a wide receiver. In 80-some years of the NFL draft, BC has never had a receiver taken in the first round. Or the second. Or the third.
Only five wide receivers in program history have been drafted, none higher than the fourth round, and none since 1987, when the Cowboys took Kelvin Martin with the 95th overall pick.
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But that is all expected to change next Thursday. BC receiver Zay Flowers will attend the draft in Kansas City, and it would be a fairly big surprise if he doesn’t hear his name called. Several experts have Flowers as the No. 2-rated receiver behind Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

“I love this guy,” ESPN’s Todd McShay said. “Anywhere after 15, it won’t surprise me if Zay Flowers comes off the board, most likely in the 20-31 range. But he will be a first-round draft pick, and I think he’s one of the top two receivers to come off the board.”
A 5-foot-9-inch, 182-pound dynamo from Fort Lauderdale, Flowers is the most complete, productive, and explosive player to come out of The Heights.
A small clubOnly five receivers from Boston College have been drafted into the NFL or made an impact in the league.

A three-star recruit who didn’t get many Power Five scholarship offers, Flowers developed into a two-time First Team All-ACC receiver who owns BC records for catches (200), receiving yards (3,056), and touchdown receptions (29).
Flowers can play the outside and the slot, has the speed to run jet sweeps and be a vertical threat, and made several impressive contested catches in 2022 despite his height. Flowers said he tries to pattern his game after two smaller but powerful receivers, Antonio Brown and Steve Smith. Flowers played at 170 pounds last year but has since added 12 pounds of muscle.

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“Zay can do it all,” said former BC receiver Tom Waddle, who spent six seasons with the Chicago Bears after going undrafted in 1989. “He’s got that initial shake, and then he’s got that extra gear that gets him where he wants to go. He’s a smart player and he’s a hand-catcher.
“The only reason why he wouldn’t go in the first round was because a team would be afraid of his size, but I wouldn’t be afraid of his size because he plays bigger than he is.”
Flowers considers himself a small but powerful receiver and recently added some muscle to his physique.
When BC coach Jeff Hafley speaks with NFL coaches and general managers, he emphasizes two points about Flowers’s character, one on the field, one off of it.
Flowers didn’t just have a great statistical season in 2022, catching 78 passes for 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games. He did it for a BC team that went 3-9 and didn’t have much help for him. It was a team that didn’t have its starting quarterback for about half of the season, had a carousel on the offensive line, and didn’t have another receiver with more than 29 catches or 388 yards.

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“Everybody knew we had to get him the ball, and he still got the ball, and still was very productive,” Hafley said. “He succeeded under very hard circumstances.
“We struggled last year, especially on offense, and that guy, at the end of the season, in a non-playoff type game, if you watch him away from the ball, he’s playing harder than everyone else on the field. Never said a word, was supportive, just goes out and goes as hard as he can.”
Waddle said he never saw the adversity of the season get Flowers down.
“It’s easy to get frustrated and hang your head and be demonstrative and be a distraction because your skill level is so much higher than the guys you’re playing with,” Waddle said. “Never saw it from him.
“When they couldn’t get him the ball or the team was struggling or whatever the case was, you never saw that.”
Coming into college with little fanfare, then playing for three offensive coordinators in four seasons, should help Flowers at the next level, said former BC and 18-year NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
“Zay is a great kid and fits the BC profile well — a little under-recruited, had to earn everything, and he has done just that,” said Hasselbeck, now with ESPN. “Having multiple offensive coordinators and position coaches in college is tough, but it will give him an advantage over other rookies. Picking up a new, NFL-style offense will be nothing new for Zay.”

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The other point Hafley emphasizes is about Flowers’s commitment. Before the 2022 season, Flowers had offers to transfer to big-time programs, with six-figure Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities.

Instead, Flowers, the 11th of 14 children in his family, spurned the big offers to finish what he started at BC and earn his communications degree.
“That was a big reason coming to Boston College, was creating my own story,” Flowers said.
Coming back for his final season “meant everything to me. It meant I completed a dream that I’d had since I was a kid, and that was to play college football and get an education at a high-level school.”
Flowers was the primary weapon on BC's offense last season, and opponents knew that — but they still couldn't stop him.BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF
Hafley and those around the program were grateful and impressed.
“He represents loyalty and commitment in a day and age in college football when those are rare,” Hafley said. “I know for a fact there were some big schools that I know very well, who they were and how much they were offering him. He came to me and told me he didn’t want to leave, which is hard for a kid to turn down.
“And now in return he’s going to make more money because of it, because every head coach that I talk to wants a loyal guy, wants a guy they know they can count on.”
Flowers’s impact on the BC program will continue to grow after he reaches the NFL.
Hafley uses Flowers as the shining example for his players about grinding through adversity and trusting the process. And the Eagles are hopeful that Flowers’s development from a three-star prospect into a likely first-round pick will turn BC into a bigger destination for wide receiver talent. Hafley said he’s currently recruiting a high school athlete in Texas who wears No. 4 because of Flowers.

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“Hopefully others will look at this and say, ‘Hey, I’ll consider Boston College, because if Zay went there and found himself drafted in the first round, maybe the same can happen for me,’ ” Waddle said.
More immediately, the Eagles hope they can finally hang a wide receiver’s jersey with their 21 other first-round draft picks.
“It really will be a great, proud day,” said Barry Gallup, who recently retired after 46 years playing and coaching for BC. “We’ve had quarterbacks, linebackers, a lot of offensive linemen, defensive linemen, a couple running backs, but he’ll be the first receiver. He’ll put us on the national map for sure.”

BC with a resounding wing against #12 UVA. That, combined with Syracuse beating UNC, sets up a huge game Thursday between BC and Syracuse. Winner wins the ACC regular season title and the #1 seed going into the ACC tournament.

BTW, if you consider performance and eligibility, I think BC has the best goalie situation in the country. She is playing great as a freshman!

The athletic came out with an article analyzing how good schools are at sending 5,4, and 3 star players to the nfl.

Really incredible findings, most importantly, bc was pointed out as the best school at developing players and putting them in the nfl relative to their recruiting rankings. Interesting tidbits:

-Stanford, Clemson, a&m and Miami are the best at developing 5*, Texas, Oklahoma, auburn, Tennessee and notre dame are the worst (teams evaluated have to have a minimum sample size)
-Baylor, Miami, lsu, OSU, bama, and nd are best at developing 4*, Nebraska, Tennessee, msu, Texas, and Rutgers are the worst, GT has never had a 4* get drafted
-OSU, LSU, bama, florida, Oklahoma? Arkansas are the best with 3*, Kansas, iowa state, Colorado, Duke, Washington state, cuse, northwestern, are the worst

Acc led all conferences in development

Bc is 34th in the country in signees drafted despite having the second worst recruiting in the p5

...including a trio at Brunswick.

I wasn’t encouraged by what I saw from the line today. Granted it’s a meaningless scrimmage and running is impossible because as soon as he is hit he is down. But the line still looked weak to me, especially the tackles.

Our DEs are pretty good, but they manhandled Trapilo on a couple of occasions. Donovan E got under his pads on one play and basically sacked Morehead using Trapilo’s body. Looked like the last series of the Rutgers game. Okpala also ran around him and stripped sacked Morehead. Trapilo is still young but he is till struggling.

Conley started the game lined up at right tackle. I don’t have to say more than that.

Jude Lowry looked ok (he appeared to twist his knee at one point) and moves pretty well.

Bottom line is that it’s discouraging to see what is supposed to be one of our most talented linemen struggle (Trapillo).

Thoughts.

Who is going? I will be there with my daughter and grandson. Looking forward to seeing some football!

Alright I only watch BC so I have not seen the majority of teams this year. I will probably do better than I used to do when I watched a ton of games. Who are you guys on?

Final Four: Arizona/Purdue/Kansas/Indiana
Champ: Arizona
Cinderella: Charleston

Most surprising NCAA hockey champion since Yale.

Big blow to Cuse….

Whats up with the secondary transfers? Did we know this prior?

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The Screaming Eagles will be pouncing on the Feckless French at Noon. A year from now, we'll be enjoying BC Hockey in the Frozen Four, and gearing up for the College World Series.