Eagles Soaring In Right Direction Under Addazio as Spring Practice Begins

By: Ethan Winter |

Oh the weather outside is frightful! Inside the bubble is so delightful! No it’s not Christmas time but as the calendar turns from February to March, and Boston still finds itself buried under four feet of snow, the Eagles have begun their spring practice…inside the bubble.

There was a lot to like at “The Heights” as the Eagles went to their second straight Bowl game under, now third year head coach Steve Addazio. If it wasn’t for poor field goal kicking or the defense being able to make one more stop, or the team’s overall ability to do a better job at finishing games, the Eagles might have won a few more games than they did last year as well as their bowl game. Addazio’s team lost four games in the fourth quarter and overtime and three of those losses were on the final drive. The Eagles are a young team and have a lot of question marks heading into 2015-16 after losing 22 seniors to graduation including star play-making QB Tyler Murphy.

Some of those questions were answered earlier in the month on National Signing Day when BC signed 26 (13 offense, 13 defense) new players including 25 incoming freshman and one transfer. Four of those 26 new players are already on campus and are participating in spring practice. Those four new members are wide receiver Nolan Borgerson, offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom, linebacker Jimmy Martin and quarterback Elijah Robinson.

The biggest question mark going into 2015 that spring practice may help make clear is the quarterback position after the departure of Murphy who graduates this spring. Robinson will have to compete with returning sophomore quarterbacks, Darius Wade and Troy Flutie — the nephew of BC great Doug Flutie — as well as fellow freshman quarterback Jeff Smith who will join the Eagles in the fall with the 22 other new BC student athletes. Spring practice will be an excellent opportunity for Robinson to show Addazio what he’s got in terms of athleticism, playmaking ability, decision making, arm strength and football IQ to try to work his way up the Eagles QB depth chart. Murphy’s playmaking in particular will certainly be missed. He passed for 1,623 yards, lead the team in rushing with 1,184 yards and scored 24 total touchdowns. Right now the 2015 starting QB job is Wade’s to lose since he is the only QB on the Eagles depth chart who had any game experience in 2014.

 

Another big question mark heading into 2015 that Addazio hopes to partially have answered during spring practice is who will be protecting the Eagles new starting quarterback, whomever that may be. The offensive line for the most part has always been strong at Boston College. The unit was a big reason why former BC Eagle running back and Doak Walker Award winner Andre Williams had a Heisman caliber season two years ago rushing for an average of over 200 yards per game in 2013. Now that former strength is a question mark after the Eagles lost five offensive lineman from last season to graduation with no juniors or seniors to fill those spots. With such a wide open competition at O-Line, Lindstrom should have a leg up on some of the competition, including fellow freshmen offensive linemen who will join the team in August, for a starting spot on the offensive line.

Having so many questions at critical positions such as quarterback and offensive line usually isn’t a good thing, but it’s also not necessarily always a bad thing either. We could see some great competition and fantastic position battles this spring for the starting O-Line and quarterback because those jobs are up for grabs and are so wide open. One could imagine that would only help the Eagles competition level come fall and elevate their play as a unit.

https://twitter.com/BCCoachAddazio/status/570712180078850049

Boston College the last two years under Addazio has brought “Superfans” and even college football fans across the nation a host of surprises. In Addazio’s first season at the helm, the Eagles had their first Heisman Trophy candidate since former BC quarterback Matt Ryan. In Addazio’s second season at The Heights, they won games that they were supposed to lose (USC, Sept. 13th) and lost some games that they probably should have won (Colorado State, Sept. 27th, Penn State, Dec. 27th). They also nearly pulled off what would have been a cataclysmic upset of Florida State on November 22nd in Tallahassee, losing only 20-17 on a game-winning field goal as time expired.

With a team this young it is hard to predict how well they will do next season. The Eagles may improve upon their win total from the last two seasons or they may regress as a result of having a young team. There is one thing for certain, the future looks bright for the Young Eagles who are getting ready to spread their wings from Chestnut Hill to new heights under Steve Addazio.

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