2017 Boston College Depth Chart

BC released its “official” depth chart earlier this week, official being in quotes because Daz dropped more “ORs” on it than a whitewater rafter whose hands are covered in Che-Chi's secret sauce. I remember the days when depth charts used to mean something. You had a starter, you had a backup, and you had a third string, not a bunch of participation trophies. That said, all of the pundits speculating that Daz is doing this because he can’t pick a starting QB or he is still experimenting with the OLine are out of their mind. Why give NIU any more additional information than you need to? Daz has had the real depth chart finalized for two weeks already, if not longer. Plus, you can pretty much throw 90% of this out the window anyway. Davon Jones wasn’t listed on half of the depth charts last year, and he got twice as many touches as the RBs ahead of him. And so while I don’t want to read too much into this, I do have a couple of observations:

·        Our DLine is a little thin depth-wise, but absolutely stacked as far as the starting unit goes. Obviously, Landry led the country last season with an absurd 16.5 sacks and is in line to be a top-10 pick in next year’s draft. But you also have Zach Allen on the other side who had a great summer. 305-pound Ray Smith came on very strong at the end of last season, and is my pick for Breakout Dude this season. And I’ve been as high as Sean Williams on Noa Merritt ever since this play in the bowl game last December:

·        Conor Strachan, who led the team in tackles last year, shifts to the strong-side this year, and sophomore Max Richardson takes over for him in the middle LB spot. It certainly won’t be easy replacing Matt Milano’s 59 tackles and 7 sacks (4^th most by LB in the ACC). Daz cited Strachan’s speed in coverage as the primary reason for the switch – we’ll see if that move pays off. Richardson has a lot to live up to, as the Eagles have started to become LB-U over the past 5 years. Obviously you have my Fitz 1 good friend and 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Luke Kuechly, who is in his own category. But you also have KPL, Daniels, Keyes, and Milano all playing on Sundays too.

·        If I am correct in assuming that X, A, and Z refer to WR positions, our starting wideouts are Callinan, Glines/Walker, and J. Smith. I don’t expect much out of this group outside of Smith, who will be called on primarily to stretch the field and also provide some end-around sweep and reverse entertainment. Michael Walker did prove himself as a reliable slot target last year as well, but there is no question that the passing game is going to revolve around TE Tommy Sweeney.

·        Wade is listed above Brown in the QB column. ORs aside, wouldn't that be a dick move to give Brown the nod after the coin toss (in this hypothetical fantasy land where both the QBs and the team don’t actually know who is calling plays in the huddle until they are on the field for the first series of the season) after putting Wade above him?

·        For our podcast audience, turns out I nailed the pronunciation of Max Schulze-Geisthövel. Missed the podcast? Check it out here.