Grading BC Following The Regular Season - Defense

After we did the offense yesterday, time to give a mini 'report card' for the defense today...

Defensive line - D

12 sacks all year. 12. Inexcusable when you have a guy like Donovan Ezeiruaku on one side and Shitta Sillah on the other for the majority of the season until he got hurt. Cam Horsley was the best player this team had up front this year and his job was mainly taking up double teams. George Rooksand Neto Okpala were noticeable and had pretty good years too, but the lack of production overall from everyone up front was a huge problem and a big contributor to the 6-6 record. Winning five games - albeit against poor competition - doesn't happen by accident and they did so flashes in certain games, but BC needed much, much more out of the guys up front this year from a pass rush standpoint.

Linebackers - C -

Given what they had, it's hard for me to be overly critical when this group just wasn't very deep to begin with. Losing Bryce Steele was a killer right from the jump. Steele's their most athletic guy in that level by far and not having him out there to fly around was a reason why the defense struggled giving up so many yards later in the year. Vinny DePalma led the team with 87 total tackles. No offense to DePalma who is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, but he's not exactly Ray Lewis.

If DePalma is your best guy then it probably doesn't speak well of the group as a whole. Kam Arnold had flashes but wasn't nearly the playmaker I think we all thought he could be. Arnold finished with 59 total tackles and just 26 solo. He didn't have a sack and had three pass break ups along with a forced fumble. Owen McGowan became a nice little piece on offense for a couple games, but didn't take the leap many of us thought was coming in 2023 defensively. McGowan had seven total tackles and five solo. Jaylen Blackwell looked like he was going to be able to fill some of the void, but ended up getting injured and was also out for the year.

Just not much there all season long.

Cornerbacks - C +

Early on in the season - especially during the winning streak - this group looked like it was turning into an elite one. It took a while, but once the turnovers started coming they came in bunches, with Elijah Jones leading the way with five INT's. Then, it all imploded again when he was sat down.

Amari Jackson was still very good for most of the year (35 tackles, 1 INT) and Cole Batson turned into a nice surprise with 37 tackles and a pick along with two pass break ups. CJ Clinkscales, Khari Johnson, Victor Nelson and Sione Hala all had their moments, but it was mostly more bad than good down the stretch. KP Price is a young guy who Hafley has spoken highly of, as is Jalon Williams. You also had Alex Washington come over from Harvard and then just leave.

Overall, I feel like for a young group that ultimately lost its best player, they were pretty good, but it's also hard to ignore the yards and points given up the last three weeks.

Safeties - C

John Pupel was the apple pf Hafley's eye in camp and he did end up having a solid year with 78 total tackles (53 solo to lead the team), a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. But, other than him, the position was a rotating door with some of the guys mentioned above and again, the yardage the last three weeks in particular was ugly.

Overall - D+

I mean, five straight wins at one point where they looked good at times and were turning the ball over with regularity is hard to ignore. So is 500 and 600 yard performances and a 6-6 record. In the end, it all kind of balances out into one big ball of mediocre play across the board. There's talent in the secondary in my opinion, they're just really young still. The team needs to look hard in the portal for linebacker and defensive line help, while also letting a guy like Josiah Griffin and other younger players get more look up front, perhaps during these 15 bowl practices.