Five Potential Breakout Defensive Players for BC in 2022

Eagle Action examined the top-five potential breakout offensive players for Boston College in 2022. Now, it's time to look at the other side of the ball.

The 2021 campaign saw defensive lineman Brandon Barlow quietly turn in the best season of his six-year career, as Barlow ranked second among all Eagles with a Pro Football Focus run defense grade of 86.8. Kam Arnold made the transition from safety to linebacker and led the team with 61 total tackles.

Then there was defensive end Marcus Valdez, who—despite missing the first three games of the year with a hand injury—wound up registering a career-high five sacks and 10 more pressures than any other BC player last season.

So who might break out defensively this time around?

2021 stats: 10 total tackles, 4 PD, 62.2 PFF coverage grade

CJ Burton became "Agent Zero" in Year One. He's since switched back to wearing the No. 1 jersey, however, he stuck out not only as the first-ever Eagle to wear No. 0 but also as a promising true freshman in the backend last year. Burton piled up four passes defended—the second-most on the team—in just 183 total snaps. Additionally, he allowed eight catches on 13 targets, per PFF.

The former four-star recruit, who flipped from Florida to BC, got his chance in the back half of the season. He was thrown into the fire at Georgia Tech when Josh DeBerry suffered an ankle injury. Burton slid inside to play nickel for the first time in his career. With DeBerry out the following two weeks, Burton saw his role continue to increase. That said, he was pushed back outside to his natural position, where he stacked all four of his pass deflections against Florida State and Wake Forest. He made the first start of his young career against the Demon Deacons.

2021 stats: 19 total tackles, 2 sacks, 11 pressures, 61.8 PFF pass rushing grade

Donovan Ezeiruaku is still so young. He made his collegiate debut at 17 years old. Partly because of BC's lack of depth and injuries across the defensive line at the start of last season, and partly because of his ability to play beyond his years. Ezeiruaku racked up nine total pressures, including eight quarterback hurries, against Colgate and Temple last season. Although his pass rushing production slowed once ACC play picked up—he didn't generate a single pressure in 51 pass rushing snaps between Week 4 (Missouri) and Week 12 (Florida State), per PFF—he still made an impact against the run during that span.

Now a sophomore, Ezeiruaku is aiming for at least 10 sacks in 2022. He said this spring that he wants to get back to being "the athlete" BC recruited him to be. Ezeiruaku, who lined up outside the tackles and at outside linebacker last season, has impressive speed off the edge. At 6-foot-2, leverage comes easier to the Williamstown, New Jersey, native.

2021 stats: 27 total tackles, 4.2% missed tackle rate, 79.8 PFF tackling grade

If you haven't caught onto the theme yet, there are a slew of intriguing Class of 2021 Eagles on the defensive side of the ball who could make a big jump in Year Two. Linebacker Bryce Steele is another. Steele finished last season strong, logging 20 total tackles across his final four games. He was a mid-year enrollee who, despite not having a senior season of high school football because of COVID-19, challenged Vinny DePalma for the top spot at weakside linebacker on the two-deep.

Steele saw limited action throughout the first half of the 2021 campaign, in part due to the fact that BC mostly operates out of a 4-2-5 defense. But once Isaiah Graham-Mobley went down, Steele got more reps. And he made the most of them. For instance, at Syracuse, he played 24 snaps and registered seven total tackles. Steele is versatile. Against Wake Forest, he lined up seven times on the D-Line and even once in the slot.

2021 stats: N/A

It's easy to compare BC strong safety Jaiden Woodbey and incoming hybrid Sione "Riz" Hala, mainly because they both starred at St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California. But it's also the right comparison. Even their high school head coach, Jason Negro, thinks so. Hala can be a two-high safety, he can play over the top as a single-high safety, or he can drop into the box and take on the role of an outside linebacker.

Hala is a defensive chess piece. The four-star signee recorded 72 total tackles, including five TFLs, this past season for St. John Bosco. It wouldn't be surprising to see him get a good bit of run this fall, considering BC isn't as deep at safety as it has been the last couple years.

2021 stats: N/A

BC fought off Tennessee to reel in cornerback Amari Jackson—a McDonough, Georgia, native—this past cycle. While at Eagle's Landing, Jackson played both ways, registering 47 tackles and 24 receptions as a senior. The 6-foot, 180-pounder is set to play corner at BC, but head coach Jeff Hafley left the door open for Jackson to get the ball in his hands offensively at some point in his Eagles career. It already appears that he's in the running for punt return duties.

Jackson turned heads during the spring season. His ball skills were on full display, and veteran defensive players, such as Josh DeBerry, alluded to Jackson's impressive play. He's a player to watch this summer as position battles heat up.