Alec Lindstrom Joins Fellow O-Linemen in 2021 Return
Boston College’s offensive line is running it back.
Center Alec Lindstrom announced Friday afternoon that he’s returning for the 2021 season, meaning that BC will have 10 offensive starters suiting up again next fall, including all five guys up front. Lindstrom is coming off a 2020 campaign in which he became the second center in program history to earn All-ACC First-Team honors.
“After overcoming all the adversity as a team and having a great season that brought us closer as a team and a family, I would like to announce that I am returning for my fifth year of eligibility!” Lindstrom wrote in a statement via Twitter.
Veteran O-Linemen Zion Johnson and Ben Petrula—who played left tackle and right guard, respectively, in the first year of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.’s pro-style system—announced their plans to come back earlier this winter. Right tackle Tyler Vrabel and left guard Christian Mahogany will be back in the trenches, too.
Next season would mark the fifth year of Johnson, Petrula, and Lindstrom’s college careers. Because of the NCAA’s COVID-19 blanket waiver, though, no player used a year of eligibility in 2020.
It was a breakout season for Lindstrom. He finished with the fourth-best pass blocking grade among all centers in college football, according to Pro Football Focus. Not only that, but the 85.1 score was 6.9 points higher than his 2019 mark.
In 785 snaps this season, the redshirt junior allowed two sacks, nine quarterback hurries, and 13 pressures. Lindstrom’s consistency was key. The 6-foot-3, 295-pound Dudley, Massachusetts, native posted a PFF pass blocking grade north of 76.0 in nine of the Eagles’ 11 games this year, eclipsing a score of 80 on seven different occasions.
Still, Lindstrom wasn’t perfect. He struggled with penalties in the early portion of the year—a pair of infractions negated touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season—and botched a snap against Notre Dame resulted in a critical second quarter turnover in this year’s Holy War.
Also, his run blocking grade dipped from 66.2 in 2019 to 57.2. That said, it’s worth noting that BC’s shift to a zone run scheme and the lack of a complete spring ball or normal training camp contributed to kinks across the line this season.
As a redshirt sophomore in 2019, Lindstrom started all 13 games at center, ultimately receiving All-ACC Third-Team accolades. He logged a career-high 945 snaps and a PFF offensive grade of 67.5. He helped pave the way for the eighth-ranked rushing attack in the country and registered his best run blocking grades against Richmond (69.5), Wake Forest (74.0), and North Carolina State (68.0), games in which the Eagles piled up 346, 252, and 429 yards on the ground.
Lindstrom made his BC debut during the 2018 season opener after replacing an injured Jon Baker at center. The next week, he started his first game in an Eagles uniform next to his brother, Chris, in a blowout win over Holy Cross. Aside from nine snaps off the bench at Purdue, Lindstrom’s playing time the rest of that season came in special teams situations. In eight games, he even served as BC’s field goal long snapper.
Lindstrom enrolled as a freshman in January 2017 and participated in spring practice yet was a medical redshirt for his first season in Chestnut Hill.
He’s emerged as a leader and voice of the program in the years since.