Focus: Quarterbacks

Returners: Anthony Brown (RJr.), Dennis Grosel (RSo.), Matt Valecce (RFr.)
Newcomers: Sam Johnson (Fr.), Daelen Menard (Fr.)

Brown returns as the Eagles' number one signal caller for the third season; marking the first three-year starting quarterback at BC since Chase Rettig was under center for four years from 2010-13. He threw for 2,121 passing yards and 20 touchdowns, the second most by a sophomore in BC history, in 2018. Brown saw his completion percentage jump from 51.9 to 55.4 percent from 2017 to 2018 and yards per attempt increase from 5.29 to 7.44.

In the Eagles' season opener a year ago, Brown posted the highest single-game passer rating on record at BC (1996-pres.) as he threw for four touchdowns and 279 yards on 15-for-21 passing. He followed up that performance with a career-night at Wake Forest with 304 yards and a career-high five touchdowns through the air in a 41-34 road win. Following the win over the Demon Deacons, Brown earned his first of two ACC Quarterback of the Week honors; his second coming after a 16-for-22 effort in a home victory against Louisville.

THE STATS

#13 Brown, Anthony

Passing Efficiency: 134.8 (6^th in the ACC)
Passing TDs: 20 (6^th in the ACC)
Passing Yards per Completion: 13.42 (1^st in the ACC, 18^th in the NCAA)
Yards per Pass Attempt: 7.44 (6^th in the ACC)

THE QUARTERBACKS ROOM

With Brown at the controls of the offense, the two remaining returners, Grosel and Valecce, are battling for the back-up spot and splitting snaps in camp with the second team offense, while also getting regular reps with the ones… Grosel, who enrolled at BC for the spring 2017 semester, did not see game action as a redshirt-freshman, but did make the Eagles' travel squad at various points during the 2018 season… Valecce redshirted last season after arriving at BC as the top-ranked high school QB in New York according to 247Sports as he led the state with 3,333 passing yards as a senior… Johnson arrived on the Heights for the spring 2018 season as a four-star QB by ESPN after guiding Walled Lake Western High School to a city and district championship… Menard led Chaminade-Madonna to back-to-back Florida Class 3A State Championships as a junior and senior, while tossing for 5,600 career yards as a two-time All-State selection.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Mike Bajakian, Offensive Coordinator:
"Anthony obviously has a lot of experience under his belt, and experience is the best developer of talent. So I think that alone is going to help him make a jump. He's a hard worker that pays attention to detail. The things we've emphasized this spring and this summer in training camp is becoming a more accurate passer. We emphasize explosives in our offense, and they did a good job of that here at Boston College last season, and we'll continue to emphasize it moving forward.

"And I think more precise ball location can only help in the area of explosives, and the phrase we use is, hey, turn those receivers into ball carriers so that they can catch and advance, and that's one area that, as I evaluated last year's video, Anthony, I believe, had completed a higher percentage of passes than he had ever done before in his career, but I thought he could have done a better job of the pinpoint accuracy that allows guys to catch and advance, and that's been a focal area moving forward."

THE STATS

THE QUARTERBACKS ROOM

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Brown

Dennis Grosel

Daelen Menard

Matt Valecce

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