5 Position Groups To Be Excited About When Looking At The Spring Roster

The two or three weeks of spring practice are only about a month away now as eyes have fully shifted to 2025 with some workouts underway and mid years continuing to get fully acclimated to their new homes.

While there's obviously plenty of questions and a long way to go before the opener against Fordham on August 30, this is the fun time of year where we get to make some bold predictions or completely overhype a kid before he even gets through training camp.

With that in mind, here are the five position groups I'm most excited about in order:

1. Quarterbacks

You all know where I've stood on Grayson James since April of last season. He showed what he's capable of when finally getting a real opportunity this year. Now, this is obviously a huge offseason for him and there needs to be continued upward trajectory, but I think we can all agree that if he does beat out the competition for the job, this team can win games with James. Having said all that, new addition from Alabama Dylan Lonergan and mid-year Shaker Reisig could very well make this a three horse race right up until like, the two or three week mark before the season. This is by far the deepest QB room BC has had in a long time and with Will Lawing and Jonathan DiBiaso developing all of them, there's no reason why this shouldn't be a very, very good group.

2. Wide receivers

Sort of feeding off of the QB room, these guys simply didn't have a QB that could get them the ball consistently until Castellanos quit. It sounds harsh, but it's the truth. Even with the departure of Jerand Bradley - who wasn't nearly the weapon he seemingly could have been - I still believe there's a lot of talent in the room.

It starts with Lewis Bond, Jaedn Skeete and Reed Harris for me. That's a damn good Top 3.

We know what Bond is and he's going to want to go out with a bang. Tooting my own horn again a bit on Harris, who flashed in April as a redshirt freshman, carried it over into the spring game and showed he's more than capable of hanging in ACC play this season. Skeete was injured early and should be good to go. Another year older and a chance to watch a lot from the sidelines this year, on top of another year with Coach Fitzgerald's strength and conditioning program, I'm expecting a massive year from Skeete.

Nate Johnson and Jonathan Montague have breakaway speed if they earn more opportunities. Ismael Zamor and Luke McLaughlin - who I've called Wes Welker Jr. and would love to see get some more run in the slot - could both make an impact. Then, you've got newcomers Nedrick Boldin Jr., Bryce Dopson, Dawson Pough and VJ Wilkins coming in looking to make a name for themselves too, along with a local guy who is already here in Michael Landolfi. Competition will be high among that group with those tops guys all more than capable of being the No. 1 on a given day.

3. Running backs

The deepest room on the team in 2024 should be just as deep and talented in 2025.

A (hopefully) Alex Broome is still only a redshirt-junior. Jordan McDonald, Datrell Jones, Turbo Richard and Anthony Ferrucci are all back. Jones was arguably the team's most impressive player in training camp last year, but was just behind two phenomenal backs in Ward and Robichaux. McDonald had a monster end to the season and we've all seen what Turbo can do.

We haven't even gotten to the additions of incoming freshman Mekhi Dodd and Bo MacCornack, who both had a case as the best players in Massachusetts this season. Mid-year addition Vaughn Pemberton from Ball State is name to keep an eye on too. This group should have plenty of production as long as they have room to run.

4. Cornerbacks

After all the injuries last year, especially to Amari Jackson, the secondary got a ton of valuable experience you can't replicate in practice.

Jackson should be back, so you've already got your lockdown No. 1 guy. Then, the fun starts. Max Tucker, Carter Davis, Ashton McShane, Isaiah Farris and Omar Thornton all got to see probably more action than some expected in 2024. All of them had their moments and BC rarely had issues with deep balls (at least to my recollection).

Add in incoming guys Ashton Cunningham, Omarion Davis, TJ Green and Njita Sinkala and suddenly, the competition here heats up too. Don't forget about Wellesley native Charlie Comella and sophomore Stair Torrence, who will have a say in their playing time opportunities with how they perform in the spring and summer camps.

BC is still young here, but seemingly very, very deep.

5. Linebackers

Seriously.

I know, it's hard to trust a linebacker unit at BC over the last decade or so, but assuming health (a huge if given the bad luck they've had here), I think we finally get a strong season from the group again.

While you can never assume with something as serious as what Bryce Steele has dealt with, you'd like to think that after a full year back from the scare, he can head into this offseason fully confident in his abilities and ready to roll. Steele, Daveon Crouch (who I thought was the team's best linebacker in 2024), a healthy Jaylen Blackwell and a healthy Owen McGowan on paper is a really good, fast, athletic group.

The only problem is that as a group, they've barely played together, so forming that continuity is going to be key. Juan Zabel was a favorite of mine last year in camp and while he didn't get much action, hits like a truck when given the opportunity. Fast and physical.

Grffin Collins (Worcester Academy), redshirt-juniors Tim Hays and Billy Van Pelt and other younger guys like Kemori Dixon and Palaie Faoa will have to earn their way into the rotation, but again, as long as they stay healthy, I have trouble believing that core group of four won't finally put it all together.