Boston College Football Tight End Kaelan Chudzinski Confirmed Available for Duke Game

After the initial availability report for Boston College football’s Week 9 road matchup against Duke did not list tight end Kaelan Chudzinski, who suffered what was thought to be a season-ending Achilles injury during spring ball, on it, BC head coach Bill O’Brien confirmed that he was available this weekend after Thursday’s practice.

Chudzinski was poised for a big year on the Heights after receiving Freshman All-American honors from The Athletic in 2025, in which he posted 313 yards and four touchdowns on 23 receptions, which led all rookie tight ends in the nation, before the injury setback occurred.

“He’s available,” O’Brien said. “You know, he’s available. I think it’s a game-time decision, and we’ll see how he does, you know, tomorrow on the walkthroughs and things like that. But he’s definitely trending in the right direction as far as, like, his rehab.”

Bill O’Brien said that tight end Kaelan Chudzinski IS available but will be a game-time decision for @BCFootball’s road matchup against Duke on Saturday.

His full comments: pic.twitter.com/B7Jth9N0Fh
— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) October 29, 2026

He continued: “When he did that, [we thought he’d] be out for the season, right? But [I] give a lot of credit to him, [Director of Sports Medicine Michael] Vigneau, [and Director of Rehabilitation] Joe Van Allen. Our training staff’s done a great job of getting him back ready to go, and we’ll see. We’ll see about Saturday. I’m not sure about Saturday.”

So far this season, the Eagles’ tight-end unit as a whole has totaled just 152 receiving yards with no touchdowns, which has prompted O’Brien to try and alter the positions of certain players to fill in for that depleted slot.

He tried moving defensive lineman Bryce Lewis over to tight end, but Lewis has yet to make an impact, and two weeks ago, O’Brien said that linebacker Griffin Collins, who had played in practice as Virginia Tech’s Luke Reynolds on scout team earlier in the season, started getting some reps at tight end as well.

But the results have simply not come no matter what changes have been made, and there is no question about the difference it could make to have Chudzinski back in the lineup again.

“He’s a winner,” O’Brien said. “He wants to win. You know, he comes from a football family, hockey family, too. [His] dad coaches here, and mom was an athlete. He grew up in an athletic family, and he wants to win.”

Chudzinski’s father, Rob Chudzinski, is currently a senior offensive analyst and the tight ends coach for BC, and he formerly coached in the NFL as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Before coming to BC, Chudzinski attended St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, Mass., where he recorded more than 1,000 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on 79 receptions across his junior and senior year, which led to being named a two-time All-ISL selection.

As a recruit, he was rated among the top 15 players in Massachusetts in his class, according to 247Sports.

More about Chudzinski’s status for Saturday’s contest, which could see the Eagles (4-3, 2-2 ACC) capture their third win in a row and get within one game of bowl eligibility, should be revealed right before the start of the game.

While he hasn’t managed to play in a game just yet, it was thought virtually impossible for Chudzinski to make a return at all this year, but he’s shown up at the practice facility and on the sideline for game days every single week.

“He’s always been around,” center Michael Crounse said. “He’s always been doing stuff, not necessarily practicing or anything like that, but he’s been running, and I kind of noticed, I was like ‘Oh, he’s pretty ahead of schedule.’ Obviously I’m just happy that he’s back in whatever capacity that may be for the game. He’s a great kid. He’s a great football player.”

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