BC Maven 2019 Football Roundtable: Who Could Breakout In 2019?

Who could be a new star in the making at BC?

In today's roundtable discussion the gang starts to look outside the box. The question posed was "Who will be someone who is poised to have a big year and become a household name by December". The panelists gave their responses.

To check out the previous roundtable topics check out: Offensive MVP, and Defensive MVP

EagleinATL of Eagle in Atlanta: Although you want to know a player, I am going with Mike Bajakian. Day, Brown and Campanile have all become CFB media darlings while at BC. Is it because Addazio talks them up? Or that Addazio brings talent but needs others to elevate it? Is it just guys in the right place at the right time? If Brown blossoms and Dillon has a big year, Bajakian will get the credit. If things flounder he will probably get a lot of the blame.

4th And Dude of 4th and Dude Podcast: Grad transfer tight end Danny Dalton. This has the potential to be a redemption story for Dalton, as the Marshfield native returns home after never really getting his shot at Penn State. A former BC commit before his recruitment exploded, Dalton aka Dalton’s Law (because he exerts pressure on the defense, google it) was the #1 rated player in MA back in 2016 and held offers from top programs, including Alabama, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. His high school tape is bananas – with his size, quickness, and ability to make tough catches in traffic, D-Squared has a great shot to pick up right where Tommy Sweeney left off. Bajakian has a history of going tight end heavy (see Travis Kelce’s breakout 2012 season at Cincy), and even mentioned the talented TE room as a big selling point in accepting the OC job. Look for Dalton to quickly become one of AB’s favorite red zone targets.

HoyaEagle of SoarScoops: Sophomore tight end Hunter Long. BC’s tight end group is pretty deep and they’ll all play a considerable amount but if there’s one guy I think could become our next big-play threat like Tommy Sweeney, it’d be Hunter Long. When he got opportunities last year, he capitalized and showed off some impressive speed and hands for a tight end. Plus, with his size at 6-5, 255 pounds, it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets a good deal of red zone targets.

Dan Rubin of BCEagles.com: Zay Flowers - a true freshman wide receiver who blew me away during the first two scrimmages. He has breakaway vertical speed but possesses an agility to make in cuts on pass routes. He broke off a kick return to start both scrimmages, though the units weren’t full tackling. As a receiver, he worked with the first unit, particularly in the second scrimmage and showcased an ability to break from double coverage. I think CJ Lewis is another option because he’s well over six feet tall and has long range, but it’s hard to ignore people’s reactions when talking about Zay. I asked both Steve Addazio and Anthony Brown about him after he put on a display at the second scrimmage, and they both smirked and chuckled like they knew something we didn’t. He’s a well-kept secret that probably won’t be well-kept for long.

Heights And Lows: Danny Longman - BC place kickers are like Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwarts: they change regularly and they all have some seemingly fatal flaw. There are about nine different reasons we’ll get to know this name way too well. Maybe he becomes a reliable force and we have the first kicker we can confidently trot out for attempts longer than 30 yards. Maybe he misses an extra point in overtime and ends up crying about eating dinner with teammates at a press conference. Maybe he’s just the name we scream from the bleachers when it looks like Coach is planning on doing something dumb like going for it on fourth inside our opponents 40. No pressure, Danny.

AJ Black of BCMaven: Aaron Boumerhi. I agree partially with Heights and Lows, while I believe the kicker will be the key I think once he is completely healthy and settled in the Temple transfer Boumerhi will grab the starting place kicker job. He was very consistent with Temple pre-injury and if he can bring back any sort of consistent kicking game that could really help Addazio in some of his situational play calling. Remember, the last kicker we had that could kick consistently anywhere on the field was Nate Freese, and he ended up winning us a game.