Boston College Football Tight End Kaelan Chudzinski Expected to Miss 2026 Season

Boston College football sophomore tight end Kaelan Chudzinski, who was named to the 2025 All-Freshman Team by On3, PFF and The Athletic last year, is expected to miss all of the 2026 season with an Achilles injury, head coach Bill O’Brien revealed to the media on Thursday’s zoom at 2026 ACC Kickoff.

Bill O'Brien confirmed that sophomore TE Kaelan Chudzinski, a Freshman All-American last season, will likely miss all of 2026.

"Tough deal. He hurt his Achilles in spring practice. If you ask him, he'd tell you he's coming back this season. But chances are that isn't the case."
— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) July 16, 2026

“Yeah, tough deal,” O’Brien said. “He hurt his Achilles in spring practices, and he’s doing really well. He’s doing well with his rehab. If you asked him, he’d tell you he’s coming back this season. But chances are that probably isn’t the case. He’ll be back with us in January, but he’s around the team. [Chudzinski’s] a great guy and an excellent player, and yeah, no, it’s somebody that, it’s hard to replace that production, right?”

A product of St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, Mass., and the son of senior offensive analyst Rob Chudzinski, a former NFL head coach, Chudzinski appeared in all 12 games with two starts at tight end last season, registering 24 catches for 313 yards and four touchdowns.

Chudzinski was supposed to play a major role in the Eagles’ offense this year with O’Brien himself calling plays, but the staff will need to pivot now.

O’Brien has already done so, moving over redshirt freshman Bryce Lewis from the defensive line to tight end, he said on the zoom.

“We moved Bryce Lewis over to tight end, and he’s had a really good offseason,” O’Brien said. “[We’re] pretty excited about having Bryce there, along with Zeke Moore, Brady Clough, and Danny Edgehille. Bryce is a 6-foot-7 athletic guy that can run, got good hands, played tight end in high school, so we moved him over and he’s had a good summer.”

Out of the players that O’Brien mentioned that could help fill the void that was caused by Chudzinski’s injury, only Moore and Clough caught a pass last year, but the two combined for only three receptions and 12 yards total.

Boston College Football’s 2026 Schedule:

Sept. 5: at Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX)

Sept. 11: vs. Rutgers, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Sept. 19: vs. Maine, 2 p.m. ET (ACCNX)

Sept. 26: vs. Virginia Tech, TBD

Oct. 3: at SMU, TBD

Oct. 17: vs. Pittsburgh, TBD

Oct. 24: at Georgia Tech, TBD

Oct. 31: at Duke, TBD

Nov. 7: vs. Florida State, TBD

Nov. 14: at Notre Dame, TBD

Nov. 21: vs. Syracuse, TBD

Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram for the latest Boston College Athletics news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google