Can Boston College be competitive in the ACC this year? As you will soon see, Boston College keeps running into bad injury luck. The hope is that the quality of recruiting under head coach Jeff Hafley is able to overcome that problem, and that the defense plus quarterback Phil Jurkovec can keep games close.
There is a general sense that the program is improving, but if injuries keep getting in the way, we won’t be able to see the tangible evidence. At any rate, Boston College will try to build up its defense to the point that the injuries on offense won’t be able to fully hijack the coming season in Chestnut Hill.
How The Team Changed This Offseason
Offensive lineman Zion Johnson was a top-20 pick in the 2022 NFL draft. This is a big loss up front – not only because of Johnson’s quality, but because quarterback Phil Jurkovec was injured for a good part of last season.
Johnson and the rest of the team had hoped to have Jurkovec play the full season and show what he could do, but the injury scuttled those plans. Not having a Johnson-Jurkovec pairing is a matter of frustration for Boston College fans, who didn’t have the best 11 players on offense in 2021.
Now some more bad news has hit Boston College along the offensive line: Christian Mahogany, an expected starter for the upcoming 2022 season, suffered an injury in mid-June which will cause him to miss the entire season.
Now Boston College not only has to replace an NFL draft pick, but also an expected starter for this season. Attrition is already hitting this team hard after a 2021 season in which the Eagles had terrible injury luck. The Eagles are hoping they will be spared any more rotten misfortune when August training camp begins and then the season starts in September.
Boston College Will Be Successful If…
The team can find replacements for Zion Johnson and Christian Mahogany. The team knew it would have to replace Johnson when the 2021 season ended. It did not anticipate having to replace Mahogany, which puts an extra strain on the remaining offensive linemen on the roster.
Getting enough available offensive linemen to play well is now an even more urgent priority. Making sure the second-stringers on the depth chart are able to play at a capable level for dozens of snaps per game will stitch together this offense and give the Eagles a real chance to compete in the ACC over the course of a full season.
Boston College Will Disappoint If…
The defensive line can’t dominate. The Boston College defense played well last season, but the injuries on offense limited what the team could achieve. Now, with more offensive line limitations, the defense realizes it has to compete at a higher standard. Not being able to significantly improve relative to 2021 will limit this team’s capacities in 2022.
The One Best Boston College Eagles Bet Is…
Regular season win total: 6.5 wins
It is true that injuries limited last year’s team, but this year, starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec is back under center. This team won’t win nine games and won't be a factor for the NCAA Championship odds, but it probably will win seven. Take the over.
