Focus: Offensive Line

Returners: Nate Emer (RSo.), Finn Dirstine (RFr.), Eddy Fish (RJr.), Elijah Johnson (RJr.), Adam Korutz (RJr.), Alec Lindstrom (RSo.), Anthony Palazzolo (Gr.), Ben Petrula (Jr.), John Phillips (Gr.), Sean Ragan (RJr.), Cam Reddy (RFr.), Tyler Vrabel (RFr.)
Newcomers: Jack Conley (Fr.), Zion Johnson (Jr.), Erik Larson (Fr.), Christian Mahogany (Fr.), Hayden Mahoney (Gr.), Blerim Rustemi (Fr.), Dwayne Scott (Gr.)

At the tackles, BC turns to its most experienced starter and a redshirt-freshman heading into 2019. Petrula, who took over as the starting center in week two as a true freshman in 2017 and moved to right tackle a year ago returns to his starting position. Last season, he started all 12 games and was named All-ACC Honorable Mention. Vrabel slides in to replace Aaron Monteiro, who started 41 career games at left tackle, after appearing in two games last season before redshirting. A defensive lineman until his junior year of high school, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Vrabel was a finalist for the offensive lineman of the year in Texas out of Saint Pius X.

Inside, Phillips provides the most overall experience on the line with 36 career games and 18 starts. He started 12 games in 2017 and six, but played the majority of snaps each game, at left guard in 2018. This year he shifts to right guard in place of first round pick Chris Lindstrom. Palazzolo, who has primarily played special teams in his 26 career games, is the front-runner to win the starting left guard position. Between the two guards, the younger Lindstrom brother takes over as the starting center. He started week two against Holy Cross last season and played special teams as the long snapper on field goals in 11 games overall.

The Eagles improved their depth on the line with the addition of three transfers, including Johnson, a junior from Davidson College. He will compete for time with Palazzolo at guard, while also being able to play the tackle positions after playing 22 games for the Wildcats and earning first team all-conference honors a year ago. Mahoney lettered twice at Miami, including last season when he started nine games, primarily at right guard. He has gotten reps on the right side at both guard and tackle through camp. Scott was an all-conference center for Rhode Island, where he played in 32 of 22 games over three seasons. He will back up Lindstrom, but can also move out to both guard positions.

CAREER G-GS/2018 G-GS

#56 Korutz, Adam: 4-0/2-0
#64 Petrula, Ben: 24-24/12-12
#66 Palazzolo, Anthony: 26-0/11-0
#70 Phillips, John: 36-18/12-6
#71 Emer, Nate: 4-0/4-0
#72 Lindstrom, Alec: 11-1/11-1
#76 Johnson, Elijah: 12-10/0-0
#78 Vrabel, Tyler: 2-0/2-0
#79 Ragan, Sean: 1-0/1-0

THE O-LINE ROOM

Emer played in four games as a redshirt-freshman and was listed as the second-string left tackle behind Monteiro all season… Fish, who was out due to injury last season, has been healthy and primarily practiced at tackle during camp… Johnson, who started 10 games at right guard as a true freshman in 2016, continues to work his way back from a knee injury… a versatile interior lineman, Korutz provides valuable veteran depth and has played in four career games… similarly, Ragan is another veteran looking to crack the two-deep after playing in his first career game last season… Dirstine, the No. 1 player out of Massachusetts, took a redshirt season last year to further develop toward a role at guard on the BC o-line… Reddy, moved from the defensive line to offense during his freshman camp, and gives added depth at the center position… the Eagles added four freshmen linemen in the class; Conley, Larson, Mahogany and Rustemi… the 6-foot-8 Conley was a three-star prospect out of Connecticut at New Canaan HS, Larson spent a post-graduate year at Avon Old Farms following three seasons of all-league play at Woodside Priory in California, Mahogany was a three-star recruit and rated as the No. 3 offensive guard in New Jersey by 247Sports, Rustemi was also a three-star recruit from New Jersey and the No. 3 guard in the state by ESPN.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Steve Addazio, Head Coach
"[Vrabel is] a young guy, so he's got a lot more development to go. He, along with several other guys, like Alec Lindstrom and those guys, are why we're so optimistic about our offensive line. We feel like we have a chance to be better than we were a year ago.

"We lost a couple of really good players. One guy we just duly documented and another guy, Aaron Monteiro, who's doing really well in Jacksonville, but we're going to be seven or eight deep up front, and we're super talented. I'll make this statement right now that you'll see down the road we'll have five or six of those guys will be NFL players. So we're going to be good up front, and we can handle some injuries. You certainly can't handle too many. But we have some depth. So I'm excited about that as well.

"That front seven is pretty good if you look at it through a front seven glass, the two tight ends and the five offensive linemen. Benny Petrula and John Phillips. John Phillips is a guy that's really come a long way in our program. He's a heck of a player. He's the next guy coming out of here. He's the senior that's going to be leaving after this season, and he'll go on and play at the next level. He's really having a great offseason, a great camp, and he's a heck of a player."

CAREER G-GS/2018 G-GS

THE O-LINE ROOM

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Players Mentioned

Jack Conley

Finn Dirstine

Nate Emer

Eddy Fish

Elijah Johnson

Zion Johnson

Adam Korutz

Erik Larson

Alec Lindstrom

Chris Lindstrom

Christian Mahogany

Hayden Mahoney

Aaron Monteiro

Anthony Palazzolo

Ben Petrula

John Phillips

Sean Ragan

Cam Reddy

Blerim Rustemi

Dwayne Scott

Tyler Vrabel

Related Videos