Extra Point: Why Dylan Lonergan Makes The Most Sense At Quarterback for Boston College

If you followed Boston College football at all in 2024, you knew that the quarterback situation was a point of contingency to say the least. Now Florida State signal caller Thomas Castellanos fell out of the starting role halfway through the season, and the race for the QB1 slot was on for 2025.

Now, with the season almost upon us, it was announced earlier today that former Alabama quarterback Dylan Lonergan will be the week one starter for Boston College in its first game against Fordham. Second year head coach Bill O'Brien has been vocal about the fact that he wants talent on the roster to be as home grown as possible, but he needed to go out and land a big fish in the portal after 2024, and that was Lonergan.

Grayson James was a plenty fine quarterback for Boston College, and still will be if his number gets called throughout the course of this season. In fact, in the same breath with which he announced Lonergan as the starter, O'Brien gave praise to James for how he handled the situation, which he was apparently informed of this morning.

O’Brien on how James handled the decision:

“Obviously disappointed but like, ‘Coach, I'm gonna be a great teammate.’ That's what you're looking for at Boston College. I can't say enough about the guy. I think he's got a future in football. He'll be ready to play if called upon.”
— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) August 12, 2025

However, O'Brien put it best in his press conference earlier today.

"We feel [Dylan] gives us the best chance to win right now," said O'Brien.

Everything BC head coach said about his decision to start Dylan Lonergan over Grayson James and why this marks a new era for the Boston College football program, @BostonCollegeSI:

“We feel [Dylan] gives us the best chance to win right now."https://t.co/KXKtRUakFM
— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) August 12, 2025

Every program needs its standard bearer or culture setter - someone who comes in the door and immediately elevates the ceiling of what was already going to be a solid team, and since Lonergan inked the dotted line to transfer to Boston College from the SEC, that's exactly what the move felt like.

In fact, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban would likely agree with that statement, as it was revealed in an interview with Boston College Eagles On SI that when Lonergan was a true freshman, Saban actually preferred his arm talent and decision making processes to that of the more experienced Jalen Milroe, who now suits up for the Seattle Seahawks.

Lonergan slotting into the role more than opens up the possibilities of the Boston College offense - it completely changes them. There have been only three times in Boston College history where I can remember such hype around a quarterback, and only one extremely recently with Matt Ryan. There's no need to start making predictions like that just yet, but if Lonergan can deliver on what he's been billed as, with O'Brien coaching him, the comparisons could start coming sooner than later.