Tight End Depth Becomes Major Issue For Boston College
In the second quarter of yesterday's win against Syracuse, Boston College's leading receiver, tight end Hunter Long went down with what looked like a leg injury and did not return to the game. While the severity of the injury is not yet known, Long's injury is one of many from a tight end group that looked incredibly deep heading into the season, and a position grouping that is vital for Mike Bajakian's offense.
Back in August during his summer press conference head coach Steve Addazio talked about the depth of his tight end group and how important that was to his offense. BC plays a lot of 12 formations, meaning they use one tailback and two tight ends. "So we have a fair number, and we need a fair number because, when you're playing two on every snap, you probably need to have six at least that you feel can play in a game."
To start the season BC had a strong group of tight ends including Penn State transfer Danny Dalton, Hunter Long, Jake Burt, Chris Garrison, and Korab Idrizi. They were a dynamic group with four of the five grabbing touchdown passes during various games, and all playing an integral part in BC's dynamic rushing attack. Steve Addazio effectively cycled in various players throughout the game and kept them fresh which was important given the physical demands of being a tight end.
But then the injury bug hit, Danny Dalton, Idrizi were both listed on the injury report this week, while Garrison is out for the year with an unspecified injury. Those three injuries left BC with a thin group of TE's to begin with, so Addazio addressed this by moving Joey Luchetti from defensive end where he had played all year back to his native tight end position.
With Long gone, that leaves BC with Luchetti and Burt as established tight ends who most likely will see the majority of snaps. They have options off their bench including Isaiah Miranda who caught his first collegiate touchdown yesterday, but these are all raw players who have yet to see the field. As Addazio said in his press conference in August, BC needs depth at tight end and right now the Eagles are banged up. There has been no word yet on when and if Hunter Long, Idrizi and Dalton will be returning, but their health is going to be a big story moving forward.