Five Takeaways From Boston College's Saturday Practice
On Saturday, Boston College held their second practice mostly on the Chamberlin Practice Field. Here are five takeaways from the practice.
1. Linebacker battle is red hot.
As we have mentioned before, the linebacker position is going to be a two position battle, with loads of potential starters being looked at. “There's really good competition in there right now,” Hafley said to the media after practice. “The guys have done a good job in (Vinny) DePalma, (Isaiah Graham-Mobley) IGM the transfer from Temple and we got some young guys mixing in there. It's a really good smart group of guys. Kam Arnold is a guy that has looked really good in spring who moved from strong safety to linebacker and he gives us a very athletic guy up to about 228. Between Kam, Vinny, IGM, Bryce (Steele), Hugh Davis, (Joe) Sparacio, I know I am listing a bunch of guys but whomever looks best at least in camp and is the most productive will play.”
2. Improvement at defensive end.
Marcus Valdez spoke to the media as well after practice and talked about the unit's need to improve. "Just to improve in everything that goes into pass rushing...hands, hips, studying offensive film." Hafley noticed improvement in the group. "“Shitta looks bigger, he looks faster. Barlow, same thing,” Hafley said. “Obviously, Valdez there's no one who's going to work as hard as that guy. We got a couple of young guys who showed some flashes. But it's really good to see Shitta, Barlow, Marcus, those guys coming out, we need them, we have to rush the quarterback better than we did last year. We have to get off the field on third down. They have to win their one-on-ones.”
3. Barry is starting to really open up eyes.
Reports were blowing up that Jacksonville State transfer Trae Barry had a huge practice. He had a number of big catches from quarterback Phil Jurkovec and looks every bit the replacement for Hunter Long. "He's enormous, extremely long, and he is very hard to cover.” But it wasn't just the transfer who was active in the passing game. Spencer Witter and Joey Luchetti both caught passes from Jurkovec as well.
4. Keeping players fresh is incredibly important
Jeff Hafley spoke about the importance of pacing his team during practice. There will be some days that will be lighter, but then he plans on ramping up, and making sure the playbook is installed. He has made keeping the players ready a priority. "I want to be fresh. I want to be as fast week one as we were on the first day of training camp."
5. Transfers are going to be Important
"Every transfer we brought in we are going to be counting on." The Eagle brought a handful of transfers in this offseason including DT Khris Banks and Isaiah Graham Mobley (Temple), Jaiden Lars Woodbey (Florida State), Alec Sinkfield (WVU), Jay Thompson II (Illinois State), and Gunner Daniel (Wagner). Though Hafley expressed that every player is going to need to battle and earn their spot. He pressed that competition at every position will help players rise to the top, and improve the overall play of the team.
Video and photo courtesy of BCeagles.com
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