Five Games in, Kam Arnold ‘More Comfortable’ at Linebacker
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Staff Writer
Kam Arnold says that Boston College’s defense isn’t that hard to figure out.
“You just got to read your key,” he said Tuesday. “Just play fast.”
Speed is what Arnold brings to the table at linebacker. He started his collegiate career at safety, where he made 15 tackles, including six solos, as a true freshman.
He transitioned to linebacker this offseason not only because the Eagles were thin at the position but also because it fit his natural body weight better. Arnold is 228 pounds this year, 13 more than last year when he was in the back end.
Arnold didn’t start the first game of the year, as he was serving a half-game targeting suspension that carried over from last year’s season finale, but he has played the fourth-most snaps (237) of any Eagle defender in 2021.
BC usually lines up in a 4-2-5 defense, and Arnold is often set up alongside Temple sixth-year transfer Isaiah Graham-Mobley. Arnold ranks second on the team with 23 total tackles and even forced a fumble at UMass.
“I feel more comfortable as the season’s gone on,” the sophomore said. “I feel like I’m emerging as a leader, too. And I feel that, like everything, I’m just seeing things faster, playing a lot faster and being able to make more plays.”
Notably, Arnold snuffed out an option play in the second half of BC’s 19-13 loss at Clemson on Oct. 2. It was 3rd-and-1, and Tigers quarterback DJ Uiagalelei flipped the ball to running back Kobe Pace, who was promptly stopped by Arnold, forcing a Clemson punt.
A couple weeks before that, Arnold showcased his closing speed at Temple, pushing Owls quarterback Justin Lynch out of bounds on a 3rd-and-7 in the first quarter.
Defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu has been using Arnold on the defensive line and in the slot as well as in the box. In fact, the first-year linebacker has played 32 snaps on the line and 25 in the slot.
In addition to Graham-Mobley, Arnold has also shared the field extensively with fellow linebacker Vinny DePalma, who has logged 114 snaps this year, according to Pro Football Focus. Arnold said the bond between DePalma, Graham-Mobley and him is strong.
“We’re all really close,” Arnold said. “I feel like they all have my back. I can tell them anything. We’re always talking, and we’re always talking pre-snap, telling each other what’s coming, what to be ready for.
“So we all kind of have our own instincts, and it helps all of us play together and play fast.”
Arnold is part of a BC defense that is vastly improved from 2020. The Eagles rank fourth in the ACC in both scoring defense and total defense, not to mention that they are tied for seventh in the country in opponent third-down conversion rate.
But the underclassman linebacker said that, as well as the unit played at Clemson, there were “still some plays that we left out there.” Regardless, he said the outing was a confidence boost.
“Everything's coming together the way we pictured it and how we should be playing,” Arnold said.
