Notes and Quotes From Second Week of BC Fall Camp
Andy BackstromStaff Writer
The shoulder pads are on, the 90-degree heat is real and Boston College is just three and a half weeks away from its season opener against Colgate.
With the second week of camp underway, some Eagles are starting to make a name of themselves.
True freshman wide receiver Jaden Williams starred Thursday with four touchdown grabs, one of which capped a 20-yard pass from backup quarterback Dennis Grosel. The 5-foot-9, two-star wideout blazed downfield for another significant hookup with Grosel, in addition to hauling in a touchdown pass from Phil Jurkovec during red zone work.
Tight end Trae Barry, one of four BC players named to the 2022 Senior Bowl watch list, is the talk of the town. The 6-foot-6, 244-pound monster has been a menace in the middle of the field so far for BC, lessening concerns about replacing Hunter Long’s production at the position.
On the other side of the ball, linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley has drawn praise from teammates and coaches. The Temple transfer is hoping for his first injury-free season since 2018 when he was tied for fourth among Owls defenders in total tackles. Graham-Mobley, a cerebral and upbeat voice in the second level, is picking up the scheme pretty quickly, according to second-year head coach Jeff Hafley, and made a nice play behind the line Thursday.
Here are some more quick hitters from the Fish Field House:
Hafley says that the defensive transfers are getting the hang of things: Hafley shouted out Graham-Mobley, who he and his players dub “IGM.” He also mentioned how former Florida State defensive back Jaiden Lars-Woodbey is coming along. Hafley explained that it helps that both of them enrolled in January so that they could use the spring to transition and get a head start on learning the playbook and the program’s culture.
“The nice part is,” Hafley said, “they’re part of the team now. It’s not like they just got here. So they worked all offseason. They know the guys.”
Hafley later elaborated on Lars-Woodbey’s impact. The 6-foot, 221-pound strong safety played 51.5% of his snaps in the box last year for FSU, per Pro Football Focus. Hafley remarked how important it is to have another big body in the secondary, alongside Jahmin Muse, who started all 11 games at strong safety in 2020 and came down with a red zone interception Thursday.
The 42-year-old head coach noted the competition between Lars-Woodbey and Muse on the backend. He also said, though, that BC will have packages this season where both of them are on the field at the same time.
Transfers are welcome and needed at BC, but Hafley doesn’t live in the portal: This isn't news. Hafley has been saying this since he got to Chestnut Hill. That said, he did break down his philosophy on roster management Thursday before walking reporters through how he evaluates talent in the portal.
“I want to develop high school players,” Hafley said. “I want to take a young player [through their] freshman, sophomore, junior, senior year, maybe a fifth year, and see how good we can get them. Help develop them as men. That’s one of the reasons Boston College fits me.”
If there are holes in BC’s roster, that’s when he looks to the transfer market. He rattled off a few examples such as when quarterback Anthony Brown Jr. transferred, he had to go and get a guy like Jurkovec, or when tight end Hunter Long left for the NFL, his staff went and reeled in Barry.
Hafley said that he looks for players who are not only skilled but a complement to BC’s locker room. He tries to find people who know the player in question or, even better, who have a relationship with them. Then he and his assistants take a hard look at whether they’re an appropriate addition.
“The biggest thing for me,” Hafley said, “it’s gotta be the right fit. There are some players we’ve really, really liked, and we feel like we could have gotten but we walked away from because nothing is more important than our culture.”
Kobay White is getting back in sync: The veteran led all BC wideouts in receiving from 2017-19 and is hoping to make a strong comeback this year, opposite of Zay Flowers on the outside. When Steve Addazio was the head coach, White was largely reserved for deep shots and 3rd Down conversions.
In 2019, he caught a team-best 29 balls—13 of the 29 came on 3rd/4th Down, and 11 of those occurred on 3rd-and-long. He moved the sticks 92.3% of the time in those situations. That same season, he had catches of 56, 64, and 39 yards against Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Notre Dame, respectively. Comparatively, those numbers were prolific for a BC offense that produced three total 50-plus-yard pass plays in 2018.
Hafley said that a lot of what White did well his first three years on the field for BC is showing up again this camp.
“Catches the ball really well,” Hafley said. “Gets open. Very instinctual. Good blocker. … I think he’ll just keep getting better and better. Good work ethic. His mindset’s right.”
Some special moments on special teams: Redshirt freshman running back Jackson Treister, who scored a touchdown out of the flat during this year’s Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Game, broke through the line and blocked a punt. Sixth-year kicker Aaron Boumerhi drilled a 45-yard field goal toward the end of the practice, but true freshman Connor Lytton did him one better with a 47-yarder.
More depth on the defensive line bodes well for BC: Talk about filling holes—that’s what the Eagles did on the defensive line last year, even up until Week 2. BC added defensive tackles Chibueze Onwuka (Buffalo) and Luc Bequette (California) as well as edge rusher Max Roberts (Maine). Bequette and Roberts are gone now, though. This time around, the reinforcements are coming from within. Well, mostly.
BC did bring in UMass defensive end Jake Byczko, who registered 15 tackles, 4.0 TFLs, a sack and a forced fumble for the Minutemen last year. Otherwise, it’s defensive linemen like redshirt freshman Izaiah Henderson and true freshman Donovan Ezeiruaku who have impressed. Henderson had a TFL during 11-on-11s Thursday, and Ezeiruaku logged four tackles and a sack in this year’s spring game. Shitta Sillah has the potential for a breakout year off the edge. The junior defensive end made three starts last year and finished with 22 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a pick. He intercepted a pass Thursday, too, during a team period.
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