BC Maven Football Roundtable 2019: Defensive MVP

The squad is back for their second round of predictions

Today the roundtable tackles the defense, and we are going to look at our predictions on who the defensive MVP will be this season. Who are you thinking? Leave your comments below! 

EagleinATL of Eagle in Atlanta: For defensive MVP, I am going to go out on a limb a bit and guess (and hope) that it is John Lamot. His freshman year prior to injury was excellent. Last year was hopefully a recovery year. If the coaches talking him up is any indicator, he could be a critical player this season. If he just recaptures his freshman form, he will be all ACC.

4th And Dude of 4th and Dude Podcast: Tanner Karafa. Our trio of linebackers (Sacks Richardson, Isaiah McStuffie, John “The Swat” Lamot) will be a top ACC unit, and our secondary has shown flashes in camp, but Tanner Karafa’s importance to this defense cannot be overstated. He put up a BJ Raji-esque stat line last year with 47 tackles, 8.5 TFLs, and 4 sacks, and his ability to clog the running lanes and wreak havoc in the interior allowed Zach Allen, Wyatt Ray, and Conor Strachan to have career years as well. A converted linebacker, TK is not the biggest or strongest defensive tackle, but his football IQ and ability to read and react to the offense set him apart. Plus, he was electric in School of Rock. Much like Jack Black, Karafa will be tasked with leading a young, inexperienced group to overcome the odds and maintain the elite defensive line standard set by their predecessors.

HoyaEagle of SoarScoops: I’ll go with Isaiah McDuffie. When he was on the field last year, I thought his speed stood out and he was able to chase down a lot of top-end ACC players. There are a lot of question marks on the defensive side of the ball this year, but one of them isn’t McDuffie. Think he has the potential to be a breakout star in 2019.

Dan Rubin of BCEagles.com: Max Richardson is an incredible athlete who was probably BC’s most underrated player last season. His 76 tackles ranked third, ahead of both Will Harris and Zach Allen, and his nine tackles for loss were most among players that didn’t play defensive line. BC played a hybrid four-man front vacillating between three linebacker sets and a 4-2-5 nickel, and linebacker versatility is a big reason for that. He had nine tackles against both NC State and Clemson and seven in each game against Miami, Virginia Tech and Florida State, then finished the year with 13 against Syracuse. That’s over 50 tackles in more than half of the games in the second half of the year.

Heights And Lows: Bill Sheridan gets my nod from the sideline. This is a super young side of the ball, as we all know, and if the defense pulls something together, a ton of credit will head towards Sheridan. A win for this defense will be preventing the doors getting blown off against Clemson, Notre Dame, Syracuse and/or Florida State. If that happens, it’ll be because the front seven learned to play together, and the move to promote Sheridan will look prescient.

Eric Hoffses (check out his BBQ company here): I’m going Isaiah McDuffie. As a sophomore he was second on the team in tackles and chipped in with 3.5 sacks. If he takes a jump up on both fronts we are talking an All-ACC type of player.

AJ Black of BCMaven: The secondary looks like it could be a major question mark this year, and there is one player that could be the glue for that group, Brandon Sebastian. He looked really good at points last year, his first year as an everyday starter. A tall quick cornerback, he could be next in line for the Eagles to be an NFL back. I predict that 2019 will be his breakout year.