BC Announces Pro Day Participants
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Boston College will be hosting its Pro Day next Friday in Fish Field House. The program announced its list of participants a week prior to the event.
A total of 14 Eagles will be showcasing their skill sets and measurables in front of NFL personnel. Here they are:
DL Brandon Barlow
TE Trae Barry
P Grant Carlson
LB Isaiah Graham-Mobley
QB Dennis Grosel
OL Zion Johnson
RB Travis Levy
C Alec Lindstrom
S Mike Palmer
OL Ben Petrula
DL TJ Rayam
CB Brandon Sebastian
CB JT Thompson
OL Tyler Vrabel
Some takeaways:
Dennis Grosel is going to spin it one last time in Fish: The longtime backup ended up starting 14 games in his BC career. He posted 2,767 career passing yards while recording a 21:13 touchdown-to-interception ratio and completing 55.6% of his attempts. Grosel went from being a former preferred walk-on to being the sixth quarterback on the depth chart in 2018 to being a critical part of BC's story the last three years.
He never really got in a rhythm last season, and his infamous dropped snap at the doorstep of an upset in Death Valley was the beginning of a downward spiral. But, conversely, he had a lot of uplifting moments as an Eagle, like when he quarterbacked BC to an overtime win over Missouri this past year or when he tied Doug Flutie for the single-game passing yards record during the 2020 regular season finale.
This will be a chance for BC's other two O-Linemen to build their draft case: Well-deserved buzz has been surrounding Zion Johnson the last couple months, and Alec Lindstrom joined Johnson at the NFL Combine. Two of their teammates and fellow offensive linemen are trying to get in the mix as well: Tyler Vrabel and Ben Petrula.
Vrabel declaring for the draft was a bit of a surprise considering that injuries have damaged his stock the last two seasons. Petrula, on the other hand, maxed out his BC career, starting 60 consecutive games from 2017 to 2021. Petrula started full seasons at center, guard and tackle. Vrabel spent most of his career at left tackle, but, because of a shoulder injury, slid over to right tackle for 2020.
BC's secondary will be well represented: Aside from the Eagles' experienced offensive line, their defensive backfield will feature the next-most Pro Day participants. After coming back for a sixth year, free safety Mike Palmer will try his hand at the next level. Palmer played 123 more snaps than he did in 2020 and logged the second-best Pro Football Focus defensive grade (79.1) on the team. He also finished fourth among all BC players in tackling grade (82.2). Palmer got his missed tackle rate down from 27.6% in 2020 to 8.1% in 2021, per PFF.
JT Thompson, who transferred from Southern Illinois, made an impact as a reserve cornerback this season. His role increased while Brandon Sebastian was nursing a knee injury. Thompson averaged 40.8 snaps over the final six games of the year. He allowed 10 catches and 11 yards per reception on 17 targets, per PFF. Then there's Sebastian, who had a pretty good week of practice at the East-West Shrine Bowl and was tied for first in the ACC last season with four picks despite playing only nine games.
