O'Keefe Paving New Road For No. 4
August 11, 2023 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Zay Flowers wore the number until he was a first round pick this year, but comparing two athletes isn't fair to BC's new outlook.
It's unfair to compare anyone to Zay Flowers.
Boston College's all-time leading receiver hasn't even been out of the program for a full year, and his jersey plaque hanging among the Eagles' first round draft picks hasn't been there long enough for dust to cover his name placard. The ink is barely dry on his contract with the Baltimore Ravens and he hasn't so much as appeared in a preseason game at the National Football League level.Â
Finding anyone capable of producing his résumé over a full career in Chestnut Hill is a disservice both to Flowers and whomever is tabbed as his eventual successor. It's simply not an equitable discussion, and attempts to draw parallel lines is borderline lacking the foresight and creativity to understand how an offense reinvents after a player departs.
With all of that said, let's now talk about graduate transfer Ryan O'Keefe, a wide receiver assigned No. 4 less than four months after Flowers walked across a Kansas City stage and traded his maroon and gold for the purple and black of a professional roster featuring quarterback Lamar Jackson.
"Being a BC Eagle has meant a lot so far," O'Keefe said following practice this week. "Just the tradition, the history. The first couple of days, we put a lot in, so we're just in a really good spot. I feel like it's going to be a special team this year."
O'Keefe's skills offered an immediate impact during this past April's spring practice, but his reputation extended to his time spent as a four-season impact player for Central Florida. He caught just under 200 passes for 2,002 yards and 15 touchdowns and separately broke the 1,000-yard barrier with 812 yards receiving and 274 yards rushing during the 2021 season.
That season was the first under former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn after Josh Heupel left for Tennessee, but the Knights still won nine games for the fourth time in five seasons. The resident Group of Five bracket buster from the mid-2010s continued its tradition of crashing power conference bowl parties with a win over Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl.
One year later, UCF reached the American Athletic Conference championship, but a regular season loss to Navy sent the Knights on the road for the conference championship game after a prior win over Tulane. Forced to play in New Orleans, a loss sent the Green Wave to the Cotton Bowl as the New Year's Six Group of Five representative, while the Knights lost to Duke in the Military Bowl.
It represented UCF's final appearance in the AAC after the program accepted an invitation to join the Big 12, but the defections alongside Cincinnati and Houston (and football-based independent Brigham Young) wouldn't occur with O'Keefe in the Orlando black and gold. He had one year of eligibility leftover from the general waiver granted by 2020's COVID-impacted season, and his connection to Darrell Wyatt, who was the receivers coach at UCF before his own departure for BC last season, led him to the transfer portal and a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference's northeast outpost.
"I just feel like the transition to the NFL would be a lot easier from a school where they practice like professionals," O'Keefe said. "They hold us accountable like pros, and they turn you into a pro before you are a pro. The offense is very much a pro-style offense [at BC], so I'm loving that I get to work and learn different routes and just to learn under Coach Wyatt to develop myself the best that I can for the next year."
O'Keefe isn't the only UCF transfer on BC's menu this year, but he fills an immediate gap created by Flowers' departure to the NFL. A receiving unit that returned a big, strong breakout target in Joe Griffin still needed a sure-handed possession receiver with breakaway speed, and despite the presence of returning veterans and the addition of a player like Jaedn Skeete, the opportunity to acquire the talented O'Keefe gave BC a multi-faceted tool in its kit.
Those career receptions, for example, would place him higher than even Rich Gunnell in the BC record books if he spent his entire career in Chestnut Hill, and the only receivers with more career receptions are Flowers and Alex Amidon, though tight end Pete Mitchell ranks third all-time with 190 career catches. Those 15 touchdowns also equaled Amidon and were more scores than Brian Brennan, Grant Adams, Darren Flutie, Brandon Robinson and Mark Chmura.
"Personally, I feel like I can bring electric plays to the table," O'Keefe said. "I like to use my speed, and I feel like that's an advantage for me over a lot of people. I like taking short stuff and making it long, and I like taking long stuff and making it a touchdown. So that's what I plan to do [at BC]."
His addition is going to change the way BC plays on offense, and while the comparisons to Flowers stick him into the same type of player, Wyatt's passing game coordination and the promotions of both Rob Chudzinski and Steve Shimko might not slot the receivers easily alongside one another. O'Keefe is a little bit different and is playing in a little bit different offense, and his chemistry with Emmett Morehead and other quarterbacks, including former teammate Thomas Castellanos, who transferred from UCF, offers different looks and a new perspective on an offense that's looking to reinvent how it played from last season.
"From what I heard about last year, there were a lot of close games," O'Keefe noted. "It's really just about us coming together and staying healthy and playing to the best of our abilities, just taking it one day at a time and trusting the process."
BC opens up its 2023 season on September 2Â when Northern Illinois visits Alumni Stadium. For tickets, call 617-552-GoBC or visit bceagles.com/tickets.
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Boston College's all-time leading receiver hasn't even been out of the program for a full year, and his jersey plaque hanging among the Eagles' first round draft picks hasn't been there long enough for dust to cover his name placard. The ink is barely dry on his contract with the Baltimore Ravens and he hasn't so much as appeared in a preseason game at the National Football League level.Â
Finding anyone capable of producing his résumé over a full career in Chestnut Hill is a disservice both to Flowers and whomever is tabbed as his eventual successor. It's simply not an equitable discussion, and attempts to draw parallel lines is borderline lacking the foresight and creativity to understand how an offense reinvents after a player departs.
With all of that said, let's now talk about graduate transfer Ryan O'Keefe, a wide receiver assigned No. 4 less than four months after Flowers walked across a Kansas City stage and traded his maroon and gold for the purple and black of a professional roster featuring quarterback Lamar Jackson.
"Being a BC Eagle has meant a lot so far," O'Keefe said following practice this week. "Just the tradition, the history. The first couple of days, we put a lot in, so we're just in a really good spot. I feel like it's going to be a special team this year."
O'Keefe's skills offered an immediate impact during this past April's spring practice, but his reputation extended to his time spent as a four-season impact player for Central Florida. He caught just under 200 passes for 2,002 yards and 15 touchdowns and separately broke the 1,000-yard barrier with 812 yards receiving and 274 yards rushing during the 2021 season.
That season was the first under former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn after Josh Heupel left for Tennessee, but the Knights still won nine games for the fourth time in five seasons. The resident Group of Five bracket buster from the mid-2010s continued its tradition of crashing power conference bowl parties with a win over Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl.
One year later, UCF reached the American Athletic Conference championship, but a regular season loss to Navy sent the Knights on the road for the conference championship game after a prior win over Tulane. Forced to play in New Orleans, a loss sent the Green Wave to the Cotton Bowl as the New Year's Six Group of Five representative, while the Knights lost to Duke in the Military Bowl.
It represented UCF's final appearance in the AAC after the program accepted an invitation to join the Big 12, but the defections alongside Cincinnati and Houston (and football-based independent Brigham Young) wouldn't occur with O'Keefe in the Orlando black and gold. He had one year of eligibility leftover from the general waiver granted by 2020's COVID-impacted season, and his connection to Darrell Wyatt, who was the receivers coach at UCF before his own departure for BC last season, led him to the transfer portal and a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference's northeast outpost.
"I just feel like the transition to the NFL would be a lot easier from a school where they practice like professionals," O'Keefe said. "They hold us accountable like pros, and they turn you into a pro before you are a pro. The offense is very much a pro-style offense [at BC], so I'm loving that I get to work and learn different routes and just to learn under Coach Wyatt to develop myself the best that I can for the next year."
O'Keefe isn't the only UCF transfer on BC's menu this year, but he fills an immediate gap created by Flowers' departure to the NFL. A receiving unit that returned a big, strong breakout target in Joe Griffin still needed a sure-handed possession receiver with breakaway speed, and despite the presence of returning veterans and the addition of a player like Jaedn Skeete, the opportunity to acquire the talented O'Keefe gave BC a multi-faceted tool in its kit.
Those career receptions, for example, would place him higher than even Rich Gunnell in the BC record books if he spent his entire career in Chestnut Hill, and the only receivers with more career receptions are Flowers and Alex Amidon, though tight end Pete Mitchell ranks third all-time with 190 career catches. Those 15 touchdowns also equaled Amidon and were more scores than Brian Brennan, Grant Adams, Darren Flutie, Brandon Robinson and Mark Chmura.
"Personally, I feel like I can bring electric plays to the table," O'Keefe said. "I like to use my speed, and I feel like that's an advantage for me over a lot of people. I like taking short stuff and making it long, and I like taking long stuff and making it a touchdown. So that's what I plan to do [at BC]."
His addition is going to change the way BC plays on offense, and while the comparisons to Flowers stick him into the same type of player, Wyatt's passing game coordination and the promotions of both Rob Chudzinski and Steve Shimko might not slot the receivers easily alongside one another. O'Keefe is a little bit different and is playing in a little bit different offense, and his chemistry with Emmett Morehead and other quarterbacks, including former teammate Thomas Castellanos, who transferred from UCF, offers different looks and a new perspective on an offense that's looking to reinvent how it played from last season.
"From what I heard about last year, there were a lot of close games," O'Keefe noted. "It's really just about us coming together and staying healthy and playing to the best of our abilities, just taking it one day at a time and trusting the process."
BC opens up its 2023 season on September 2Â when Northern Illinois visits Alumni Stadium. For tickets, call 617-552-GoBC or visit bceagles.com/tickets.
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