Boston College Athletics
Spring Practice Report: April 6
April 06, 2017 | Football
BC's defensive line should be an area of strength for the Eagles in 2017
Boston College Spring Practice Report – April 6
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Boston College football team finished its 10th practice of the spring inside the bubble at Alumni Stadium Thursday morning. The Eagles were on the practice field for just over two hours in full pads.
Head coach Steve Addazio announced that two student-athletes will miss the rest of spring practice due to injury. Addazio said sophomore offensive lineman Elijah Johnson will be out for an extended period of time due to a knee injury while sophomore linebacker Max Richardson will miss the rest of spring practice due to a broken foot.
Looking ahead to 2017, it is quick to see one of the position groups of strength for the Eagles will be on the defensive line. With the return of All-America defensive end Harold Landry, who led the nation in sacks in 2016 with 16.5, BC has a formidable front returning. In addition to Landry, junior defensive ends Wyatt Ray and Zach Allen give the Eagles three disruptive players who can get to the quarterback.
Defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni spoke about the defensive line's progress this spring. "It has been good," said Pasqualoni. "They've worked extremely hard, and we have some younger guys who are showing some signs of improvement a little bit each day. That's going to be important to us because we have to recover the value and the production that Truman Gutapfel gave us inside. Kevin Kavalec gave us a lot of production too. We lost two players who may not have been the flashiest guys, but they sure were very dependable and very, very consistent and they made key plays at key times. We're trying to get a real good look at everybody so we can try to figure out who we can use in those spots."
Pasqualoni spoke in-depth about some of the younger defensive linemen who are showing signs of improvement this spring for the Eagles. "Noa (Merritt) got an opportunity to play last year, and he was a pretty productive guy," added Pasqualoni. "He really was. So Noa Merritt is one of those guys. We have Jack Kenny, who's a big strong guy and did not play a lot of high school football, so he's still a relatively inexperienced player. But he's getting a little bit better as we go. Inside, we have a young guy in Adam Korutz, who is trying to make progress and doing well. On the outside, you have Bryce Morais, who's a big, strong, talented guy. And you have Brandon Barlow on the other side. Our concerns are a little bit more inside and then depth outside. We have Zach (Allen), who's played a lot. We have Harold (Landry), who's played a lot, Wyatt (Ray), who's played a lot. Tanner Karafa is working really hard, and he's a good-sized guy. Bryce Morais is a good-sized guy. We're going to need everybody we have. We're going to need every single one of those guys. It's just a matter of trying to get them to the point where we can play them."
Boston College returns to the practice field Saturday morning for spring practice No. 11.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Boston College football team finished its 10th practice of the spring inside the bubble at Alumni Stadium Thursday morning. The Eagles were on the practice field for just over two hours in full pads.
Head coach Steve Addazio announced that two student-athletes will miss the rest of spring practice due to injury. Addazio said sophomore offensive lineman Elijah Johnson will be out for an extended period of time due to a knee injury while sophomore linebacker Max Richardson will miss the rest of spring practice due to a broken foot.
Looking ahead to 2017, it is quick to see one of the position groups of strength for the Eagles will be on the defensive line. With the return of All-America defensive end Harold Landry, who led the nation in sacks in 2016 with 16.5, BC has a formidable front returning. In addition to Landry, junior defensive ends Wyatt Ray and Zach Allen give the Eagles three disruptive players who can get to the quarterback.
Defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni spoke about the defensive line's progress this spring. "It has been good," said Pasqualoni. "They've worked extremely hard, and we have some younger guys who are showing some signs of improvement a little bit each day. That's going to be important to us because we have to recover the value and the production that Truman Gutapfel gave us inside. Kevin Kavalec gave us a lot of production too. We lost two players who may not have been the flashiest guys, but they sure were very dependable and very, very consistent and they made key plays at key times. We're trying to get a real good look at everybody so we can try to figure out who we can use in those spots."
Pasqualoni spoke in-depth about some of the younger defensive linemen who are showing signs of improvement this spring for the Eagles. "Noa (Merritt) got an opportunity to play last year, and he was a pretty productive guy," added Pasqualoni. "He really was. So Noa Merritt is one of those guys. We have Jack Kenny, who's a big strong guy and did not play a lot of high school football, so he's still a relatively inexperienced player. But he's getting a little bit better as we go. Inside, we have a young guy in Adam Korutz, who is trying to make progress and doing well. On the outside, you have Bryce Morais, who's a big, strong, talented guy. And you have Brandon Barlow on the other side. Our concerns are a little bit more inside and then depth outside. We have Zach (Allen), who's played a lot. We have Harold (Landry), who's played a lot, Wyatt (Ray), who's played a lot. Tanner Karafa is working really hard, and he's a good-sized guy. Bryce Morais is a good-sized guy. We're going to need everybody we have. We're going to need every single one of those guys. It's just a matter of trying to get them to the point where we can play them."
Boston College returns to the practice field Saturday morning for spring practice No. 11.
Players Mentioned
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