Maitre Even More Versatile After Playing Free Safety Last Season
A wooden lion pendant dangles around the neck of Boston College graduate defensive back Jason Maitre, just below his mane of dreads.
It's a fitting charm.
The 5-foot-10, 188-pound veteran DB plays with ferocity. Plus, he's part of an experienced BC secondary, which position coach—and associate head coach—Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has nicknamed the "jungle" since he arrived in 2020.
"The jungle is just a different place," Maitre said Friday. "If you're living in a jungle, you've gotta be ready to hunt, or you're gonna get killed. So I think that's what we live by."
Maitre said that the "jungle" is the backend's identity at this point.
It's arguably the strongest position group on the Heights. BC's secondary features All-ACC second-teamer Josh DeBerry, who thrived at nickel last season, rangy corner—and expert gunner—Elijah Jones, standout sophomore corner CJ Burton and mid-year Amari Jackson as well as strong safety Jaiden Woodbey—an All-ACC honorable mention in 2021—Maitre and true freshman Sione "Riz" Hala, who can play safety or linebacker.
"We got a lot of vets back there, a lot of three-, four-year starters and guys that have been around and played a lot of football," Maitre said. "The team's relying on us."
The Eagles ranked third in the country, and first in the ACC, last year in pass defense. Two years removed from allowing the ninth-most yards per game through the air and grading out as the 10th-worst Pro Football Focus pass coverage team in the country, BC allowed an ACC-best 173.5 passing yards per contest in 2021—an average of 72 yards fewer than the previous season when they jumped 40 spots to 82nd in the FBS.
Although opponents were running on BC more than they were going to the air, because of the Eagles' far less impressive rushing defense, the improvement in the backend is undeniable.
What's more, BC took a massive step without a completely healthy secondary. DeBerry missed the final two games of the season with an ankle injury. Maitre missed the last four games of the year with a shoulder injury that required surgery.
"I kind of got to that point where it wasn't worth it," Maitre explained to reporters Friday. "It was hurting a lot. It was popping out. So I'm like, 'No, I'm just gonna leave it and call it.'"
Maitre is a bulldozer of a defensive back. Despite starting his career as a 175-pound corner, he's emerged as one of the hardest-hitting players on the team. Last year, he sacked Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei on a critical 3rd-and-3 to give BC one last shot at its upset bid in Death Valley. The week after that, he leveled North Carolina State wide receiver Emeka Emezie, forcing what appeared to be a fumble but was ruled as an incomplete pass.
The Everett High School (Mass.) product has great instincts, particularly when it comes to reading routes—his 2019 pick-six against N.C. State comes to mind. But so does his well-timed TFL on a Colgate swing pass during last season's opener.
Maitre made six starts at corner as a redshirt freshman in 2019. Then he got the nod at nickel for six games in 2020. Then he started seven games at free safety in 2021.
"I feel like I'm versatile," Maitre said. "It's kind of helped me, honestly, learning different positions and learning the defense as a whole and seeing different things."
In fact, after Maitre's 2020 campaign, ESPN's Bill Connelly labeled the Orlando, Florida, native as one of the most versatile defensive backs in college football.
Maitre spent most of that year in the role that DeBerry played in 2021. He was in the slot for 480 of his 513 defensive snaps (93.6%), according to PFF. Maitre allowed just a 47% completion rate and sacked the quarterback twice on 12 blitzes. BC moved him around, even having him line up in the box for 21 snaps and on the D-Line for four others, per PFF, while he piled up five TFLs.
Before he got hurt as a free safety last season, Maitre registered 19 solo tackles and, at the time, the fifth-best PFF coverage grade on the team. It was his first time playing the position in college, and he said he "really liked it."
Maitre enjoyed playing alongside Woodbey, a former Florida State transfer.
"That's my boy," Maitre said Friday.
Maitre said he lives with Woodbey in the same house, where they continue their on-field competition with games of Connect 4.
It's a game that doesn't call for the aggression of the "jungle." But it does facilitate the friendship necessary for a cohesive secondary.
"I think that's what's gonna make us different this year," Maitre said. We're really tight. We got a really good group. We're together, and we all best friends.
"That's what you need."