Photo by: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
BC at the 2022 NFL Draft: Chaotic Draft Sends Eagles to NFL
May 03, 2022 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Through the highs and lows, BC prepared this group for its entry into the pro ranks.
The NFL Draft doesn't always make sense.Â
The production is designed to give viewers a show and a look at the entire draft process from top to bottom. It's just as much about the coaches and scouts working together with front office staff in their respective draft rooms as it is about the college programs and the players who hug commissioner Roger Goodell on stage during the first round, and it offers the rare window behind the curtain where a team plans and plots its future by discussing a particular draft pick or player.
That transparency isn't seen at any other point during the season, which is why it's incorporated into the show production of the draft, but it masks a greater truth about the well-known art of deception mixing into those public conversations. Smoke signals are an annual exercise, which in turn makes predicting a franchise's moves or motives futile.
That was never more obvious than this past week when Boston College entered the draft with a star-studded class of professional hopefuls, and while only one player found his way onto the draft board, the up-and-down nature of the draft generated an emotional weekend capable of rippling through future Eagles for years to come.
"I always talk about the legacy that BC has in terms of offensive linemen," Johnson said. "There were tons of great guys that were drafted in the first round or left a lasting impression on the league. For me, when I transferred, I knew about that history and that legacy. One of my goals was to leave my mark, to have a good career and to help my team win. I'm very happy that I was taken by the Chargers in the first round, and I hope that I make all those alumni that left their impression proud."
Johnson's pick by the Chargers stood out during the first round for a number of reasons. He was the fifth offensive lineman selected but the second guard, and LA chose him two picks after Houston picked Texas A&M's Kenyon Green with the 15th pick. That pick was dealt by Philadelphia to the Texans as part of an ongoing domino effect from last season, when the Eagles moved out of No. 6 overall as part of Miami's ongoing trades from its initial No. 3 draft pick. The domino, which started with San Francisco's move to No. 3 to draft Trey Lance, saw Miami move to No. 12 and then to No. 6 to draft Jaylen Waddle with a package that included this year's pick.Â
Philadelphia moved that pick in a package to take Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis, the player projected to the Chargers by Todd McShay and Matt Miller - two of ESPN's draft experts. The Texans, meanwhile, went in a different direction from their projected pick after offensive tackle Charles Cross went ninth overall to Seattle, creating the perfect scenario for Johnson to fall to LA..
"It was awesome," Johnson said. "I talked about how surprised I was because I was sitting there with my family. There's a draft chair you're supposed to sit in, and I had been sitting there for a while, just wanting to stretch my legs. I was sitting with Coach Hafley and my agent, and midway through a sentence, I got a call. Everyone went silent because they had no idea what happened, but then I said thank you [to team owner Dean Spanos], and they all realized it was the Chargers. Everybody went crazy. It was a very exciting moment. I was on the phone and didn't even know what to say. I was just so thankful for the opportunity and ready for what's next."
The opportunity was expected for Johnson, a top prospect who attended the draft with 20 others who waited in the NFL's green room in Las Vegas, but the optimistic tone ran into an unexpected firewall two days later. There hadn't been a BC selection in either the second or third round on Friday, but more reasonable outlooks thought center Alec Lindstrom would find his way onto a roster early on Saturday when the fourth round kicked off with a possible stretch pick somewhere in the later rounds.
Lindstrom's name failed to appear, however, as the picks rolled across the draft screen's bottom line ticker. He was listed as the fifth best center in the draft, a position with one of the NFL's best retention rates for a second contract, but there were just two centers picked on Friday after Baltimore made Tyler Linderbaum the 25th overall pick on Thursday: Cam Jurgens, picked 51st overall in the second round by Philadelphia, and Luke Fortner, the first pick in the third round, 65th overall, by Jacksonville.Â
The first center didn't come off the board on Saturday until less than 10 picks remained in the fifth round, at which point Denver drafted Washington's Luke Wattenberg before Doug Kramer and Dawson Deaton were picked in the late stages of the sixth and seventh rounds by Chicago and Cleveland.
None of those picks on the third day outranked Lindstrom on draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr.'s predraft big board, but it was in line with the general weirdness of the entire affair. Two players rated higher than Lindstrom - Arizona State's Dohnovan West and Wake Forest's Zach Tom - weren't picked, either, and Kramer was picked over them despite being the 10th-best rated center in the draft.
As those names joined NFL rosters as draft picks, Lindstrom shook off any shock or disappointment by instead going to work on which team he would join when the seventh round concluded.
"My agent and I did a really good job of preparing for the worst," Lindstrom said. "Obviously, we thought we were going to get drafted, but it doesn't always work out that way. So we prepared for the worst. We had depth charts lined up with teams and possibilities that we watched throughout the draft. We had the depth charts of both Dallas and Minnesota and some other teams that called, and when it came down to the end, it came down to those teams."
In the end, Lindstrom signed with the Cowboys as part of a competitive class of undrafted free agents. His position teammates Tyler Vrabel and Ben Petrula signed with Atlanta and Cleveland, respectively, while linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley signed with Carolina. Defensive back Brandon Sebastian, meanwhile, joined Johnson by signing with the Chargers,Â
In the end, Lindstrom signed with the Cowboys to compete for a role behind incumbent starter Tyler Biadasz, while teammates Tyler Vrabel and Ben Petrula signed with Atlanta and Cleveland, respectively. Linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley, an NFL Combine invite, likewise went undrafted and instead signed with the Carolina Panthers, while defensive back Brandon Sebastian joined Johnson on the Los Angeles Chargers. Tight end Trae Barry earned a rookie mini-camp invite from Arizona;Â completing a draft class that both continued a great lineage of first round value while simultaneously earning opportunities to prove how too many teams missed an opportunity to build championship winners with the smart, intelligent talent present in Chestnut Hill.
"BC did an awesome job preparing me for this whole process," Lindstrom said. "Preparing me to be drafted or undrafted, [the coaches] prepared me for this by telling me to be [myself] and be genuine. I felt prepared, and they are still always checking in on me. I talked to Coach Hafley last night, and we had a nice conversation. He asked if I needed him to call anybody, and he told me that he was here for me and in my corner. After I signed with Dallas, he was like, 'I'm super stoked for you. If you ever need anything, I'm here for you.' The love I've gotten from BC, from everybody in my corner, has been unreal."
"Coach Hafley is definitely special," Johnson echoed. "He's the only head coach I had for multiple years, and to have him there [at the draft], he was very excited to come out and be there for me. When I heard my name called, I was so thankful to have him there. He's helped me a lot through my career in the short time I was with him. In 2020, when I was thinking about leaving, he was someone that really laid out the facts and helped me make my decision to come back [to BC], and I'm really grateful for him for that. I'm really thankful for him for coming out [to Las Vegas]."
The production is designed to give viewers a show and a look at the entire draft process from top to bottom. It's just as much about the coaches and scouts working together with front office staff in their respective draft rooms as it is about the college programs and the players who hug commissioner Roger Goodell on stage during the first round, and it offers the rare window behind the curtain where a team plans and plots its future by discussing a particular draft pick or player.
That transparency isn't seen at any other point during the season, which is why it's incorporated into the show production of the draft, but it masks a greater truth about the well-known art of deception mixing into those public conversations. Smoke signals are an annual exercise, which in turn makes predicting a franchise's moves or motives futile.
That was never more obvious than this past week when Boston College entered the draft with a star-studded class of professional hopefuls, and while only one player found his way onto the draft board, the up-and-down nature of the draft generated an emotional weekend capable of rippling through future Eagles for years to come.
"I always talk about the legacy that BC has in terms of offensive linemen," Johnson said. "There were tons of great guys that were drafted in the first round or left a lasting impression on the league. For me, when I transferred, I knew about that history and that legacy. One of my goals was to leave my mark, to have a good career and to help my team win. I'm very happy that I was taken by the Chargers in the first round, and I hope that I make all those alumni that left their impression proud."
Johnson's pick by the Chargers stood out during the first round for a number of reasons. He was the fifth offensive lineman selected but the second guard, and LA chose him two picks after Houston picked Texas A&M's Kenyon Green with the 15th pick. That pick was dealt by Philadelphia to the Texans as part of an ongoing domino effect from last season, when the Eagles moved out of No. 6 overall as part of Miami's ongoing trades from its initial No. 3 draft pick. The domino, which started with San Francisco's move to No. 3 to draft Trey Lance, saw Miami move to No. 12 and then to No. 6 to draft Jaylen Waddle with a package that included this year's pick.Â
Philadelphia moved that pick in a package to take Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis, the player projected to the Chargers by Todd McShay and Matt Miller - two of ESPN's draft experts. The Texans, meanwhile, went in a different direction from their projected pick after offensive tackle Charles Cross went ninth overall to Seattle, creating the perfect scenario for Johnson to fall to LA..
"It was awesome," Johnson said. "I talked about how surprised I was because I was sitting there with my family. There's a draft chair you're supposed to sit in, and I had been sitting there for a while, just wanting to stretch my legs. I was sitting with Coach Hafley and my agent, and midway through a sentence, I got a call. Everyone went silent because they had no idea what happened, but then I said thank you [to team owner Dean Spanos], and they all realized it was the Chargers. Everybody went crazy. It was a very exciting moment. I was on the phone and didn't even know what to say. I was just so thankful for the opportunity and ready for what's next."
The opportunity was expected for Johnson, a top prospect who attended the draft with 20 others who waited in the NFL's green room in Las Vegas, but the optimistic tone ran into an unexpected firewall two days later. There hadn't been a BC selection in either the second or third round on Friday, but more reasonable outlooks thought center Alec Lindstrom would find his way onto a roster early on Saturday when the fourth round kicked off with a possible stretch pick somewhere in the later rounds.
Lindstrom's name failed to appear, however, as the picks rolled across the draft screen's bottom line ticker. He was listed as the fifth best center in the draft, a position with one of the NFL's best retention rates for a second contract, but there were just two centers picked on Friday after Baltimore made Tyler Linderbaum the 25th overall pick on Thursday: Cam Jurgens, picked 51st overall in the second round by Philadelphia, and Luke Fortner, the first pick in the third round, 65th overall, by Jacksonville.Â
The first center didn't come off the board on Saturday until less than 10 picks remained in the fifth round, at which point Denver drafted Washington's Luke Wattenberg before Doug Kramer and Dawson Deaton were picked in the late stages of the sixth and seventh rounds by Chicago and Cleveland.
None of those picks on the third day outranked Lindstrom on draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr.'s predraft big board, but it was in line with the general weirdness of the entire affair. Two players rated higher than Lindstrom - Arizona State's Dohnovan West and Wake Forest's Zach Tom - weren't picked, either, and Kramer was picked over them despite being the 10th-best rated center in the draft.
As those names joined NFL rosters as draft picks, Lindstrom shook off any shock or disappointment by instead going to work on which team he would join when the seventh round concluded.
"My agent and I did a really good job of preparing for the worst," Lindstrom said. "Obviously, we thought we were going to get drafted, but it doesn't always work out that way. So we prepared for the worst. We had depth charts lined up with teams and possibilities that we watched throughout the draft. We had the depth charts of both Dallas and Minnesota and some other teams that called, and when it came down to the end, it came down to those teams."
In the end, Lindstrom signed with the Cowboys as part of a competitive class of undrafted free agents. His position teammates Tyler Vrabel and Ben Petrula signed with Atlanta and Cleveland, respectively, while linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley signed with Carolina. Defensive back Brandon Sebastian, meanwhile, joined Johnson by signing with the Chargers,Â
In the end, Lindstrom signed with the Cowboys to compete for a role behind incumbent starter Tyler Biadasz, while teammates Tyler Vrabel and Ben Petrula signed with Atlanta and Cleveland, respectively. Linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley, an NFL Combine invite, likewise went undrafted and instead signed with the Carolina Panthers, while defensive back Brandon Sebastian joined Johnson on the Los Angeles Chargers. Tight end Trae Barry earned a rookie mini-camp invite from Arizona;Â completing a draft class that both continued a great lineage of first round value while simultaneously earning opportunities to prove how too many teams missed an opportunity to build championship winners with the smart, intelligent talent present in Chestnut Hill.
"BC did an awesome job preparing me for this whole process," Lindstrom said. "Preparing me to be drafted or undrafted, [the coaches] prepared me for this by telling me to be [myself] and be genuine. I felt prepared, and they are still always checking in on me. I talked to Coach Hafley last night, and we had a nice conversation. He asked if I needed him to call anybody, and he told me that he was here for me and in my corner. After I signed with Dallas, he was like, 'I'm super stoked for you. If you ever need anything, I'm here for you.' The love I've gotten from BC, from everybody in my corner, has been unreal."
"Coach Hafley is definitely special," Johnson echoed. "He's the only head coach I had for multiple years, and to have him there [at the draft], he was very excited to come out and be there for me. When I heard my name called, I was so thankful to have him there. He's helped me a lot through my career in the short time I was with him. In 2020, when I was thinking about leaving, he was someone that really laid out the facts and helped me make my decision to come back [to BC], and I'm really grateful for him for that. I'm really thankful for him for coming out [to Las Vegas]."
Players Mentioned
TE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
OL
/ FootballWomen's Tennis: Nadia Check In (Oct. 28, 2025)
Tuesday, October 28
Women's Tennis: Freshman Check in (Oct. 28, 2025)
Tuesday, October 28
Football: Head Coach Bill O'Brien Media Availability (October 28, 2025)
Tuesday, October 28
Football: Jordan McDonald Media Availability (October 28, 2025)
Tuesday, October 28
