How Does Boston College Football's QB Room Look Post Lonergan Transfer Decision

On Thursday, former BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan announced his decision to enter the transfer portal after just one season on the Heights.

Nov 29, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Shaker Reisig (10) warms up prior to the game against the Syracuse Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

It has been less than a year since former Alabama quarterback Dylan Lonergan transferred to Boston College for his redshirt-sophomore season to supposedly stabilize the Eagles’ quarterback room and bring success to the Heights that the program has not touched in years.

A lot can change in a year, however.

On Thursday, Lonergan announced his decision to enter the transfer portal once it opens, on Jan. 2, 2026, and take his talents elsewhere for his redshirt-junior campaign. In 10 appearances for the Eagles, Lonergan manufactured 2,025 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and five interceptions on a completion rate of 66.9 percent.

At his very best, Lonergan showed glimpses of a player who could, in fact, check off at least some of those aforementioned aspirations. As his tape will show, Lonergan was capable of making throws to the second and third level of the field with elite touch or zip on them, and he displayed command of the pocket with a poise in the later stages of the season.

Lonergan also experienced bumps along the way—from Sept. 13 to Oct. 11, in which the Eagles dropped four games by a combined score of 147-61, Lonergan threw just one touchdown pass with two interceptions.

The Snellville, Ga., native was reportedly not fully himself for most of the season due to a toe injury—Lonergan missed the majority of his senior season in high school because his right-big toe needed to be surgically repaired—which he aggravated during BC’s first game of the year, a 66-10 blowout of Fordham. 

But he eventually came back to full strength when he stepped in for redshirt senior Grayson James against SMU in a 45-13 loss, completing 25-of-37 passes for 232 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Lonergan was named the starter for the Eagles’ penultimate contest of the year, against No. 16 Georgia Tech, and arguably had his best performance of the season, generating 362 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions on a 65.0 percent completion rate in a 36-34 loss.

After just two throws in BC’s season finale at Syracuse, however, he injured his throwing-hand thumb and sat on the bench for the remainder of the matchup, which ended in favor of the Eagles, 34-12.

Now that the program’s future under Bill O’Brien—who is going into his third season at the helm—will no longer consist of Lonergan playing under center, it is worth taking a peak at the current state of BC’s quarterback room before the portal opens.

This is where things stand:

Let’s start with Shaker Reisig, the only current quarterback on the Eagles’ roster with game exposure.

The 6-foot, 199-pound Tulsa, Okla., native played in garbage time during three BC losses—Pittsburgh, Clemson and SMU—and went 10-for-19 through the air for 141 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Reisig entered his first year in Chestnut Hill, Mass., with an undisclosed injury, which required him to wear a boot on his left leg and miss the first four weeks before eventually shuffling into the rotation as the third-string quarterback behind Lonergan and James.

But from the instant he stepped foot on campus for spring practices, O’Brien expressed belief in Reisig’s potential and boasted of the young gunslingers’ character—on and off the field.

Reisig has a long way to go until he can say that he is fully prepared to start for the Eagles for BC’s 2026 season opener, and he will likely have competition to join him in the room after the portal opens, considering the overall inexperience among the unit for the time being.

Reisig has a snappy release of the ball and possesses that intangible ability to throw from multiple arm angles, but his size, which is on the smaller end, could be a hindrance.

Apart from Reisig, incoming freshman quarterback Femi Babalola, who officially signed with the program on Early National Signing Day Wednesday, arguably holds the highest potential in the Eagles’ 2026 quarterback room.

IM HOME 🏡❗️ https://t.co/hEvtMfizcN

— Femi Babalola (@FemiBab2026) December 3, 2025

With a cannon of an arm, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Ravenwood High School (Tenn.) product guided the Raptors to the 2025 Division I 6A state title game this season.

One of two signal caller commits in the 2026 class—Anthony Coellner (Carmel, Ind.) is the other—Babalola could even have the highest ceiling of any player in the class and is a proven winner. He committed to BC in June over the likes of Colorado, Arizona, Georgia Tech and plenty more Power-Four programs. 

Coellner was another big addition to O’Brien’s ‘26 recruiting class after the Eagles lost out on a commitment from 3-star quarterback DJ Bordeaux in mid-November, but his frame is similar to Reisig’s, which means his development from the high school to collegiate level could take longer than Babalola’s.

Ready to Soar in Boston
Fired up to have you joining the Eagles @AnthonyCoellner!#ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/OeJgZFvh2O

— Boston College Football (@BCFootball) December 3, 2025

Coellner stands at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds and completed over 70 percent of his passes as a senior this year for 1,737 yards with 18 touchdowns to seven interceptions.