OL Ben Petrula Announces Return for 2021 Season

Offensive lineman Ben Petrula has started in each of the 48 games that he’s played at Boston College, received All-ACC honors three years in a row, and spent seasons at center, tackle, and guard.

And he’s coming back for more.

The senior announced his return to Chestnut Hill for a fifth season Monday afternoon. Fellow 2020 captain and veteran O-Lineman Zion Johnson made the same decision on Dec. 27, despite being ranked by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. as a top-10 guard in his prospect rankings for the 2021 NFL Draft.

If redshirt junior Alec Lindstrom—BC’s first All-ACC First-Team center since Andy Gallik in 2014—and redshirt sophomore Tyler Vrabel return as well, BC will have all five of its starters up front back for the second year in offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.’s pro-style system.

Because of the NCAA’s COVID-19 blanket waiver, Petrula didn’t use a year of eligibility in 2020.

Unlike Johnson, who transferred to BC from Davidson ahead of the 2019 season and didn’t crack the starting lineup until mid-October of that year, Petrula has been a mainstay in the Eagles’ trenches ever since he was a true freshman. That wasn’t always the plan, though.

In 2017, he was thrust into action after starting center and then-team captain Jon Baker suffered a season-ending knee injury. With backup center Shane Leonard also out, Petrula was called upon to suit up at a position he had never played in a game before, at any level. After a few early-season hiccups, he adapted while starting the final 12 games of the season and ultimately being named an ESPN Freshman All-American.

The next season, the Freehold, New Jersey, native, shifted to right tackle, where he also lined up in 2019. Petrula was tabbed as an All-ACC honorable mention and actually posted the highest Pro Football Focus offensive grade (67.2) of his career, despite allowing a career-worst three sacks and 24 pressures. His run blocking grade (70.5) was fourth on the team and only 0.2 points below future NFLer Chris Lindstrom’s.

Petrula’s run blocking chops were once again on full display the following season, as he helped pave the way for the eighth-best rushing attack in college football. His third-best PFF offensive grade of the season (70.3) came at Syracuse, a game in which the Eagles piled up a program-record 691 total yards. As a member of the conference’s second team, he was one of four BC O-Linemen to garner All-ACC accolades that year.

This year, the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Petrula was part of offensive line coach Matt Applebaum’s preseason shakeup in the trenches. Designed to better fit Cignetti’s scheme and fill the void left by right guard John Phillips, Johnson moved from left guard to the blind side, Vrabel slid across the line from left tackle to right tackle, and Petrula shuffled to right guard.

The transition wasn’t seamless for an offensive line many tabbed as the best in the ACC before the season began. BC’s rushing attack plummeted toward the bottom of the FBS, and the Eagles allowed 17 sacks in the first four games (not all of that was on the O-Line, though), after having given up 13 in all of 2019. But as the season progressed, so did the guys up front. In three of BC’s final six outings, the Eagles rushed for more than 180 yards while allowing zero sacks.

For Petrula, however, the season was more up-and-down, at least according to PFF. He earned his two-best pass blocking grades against Duke (80.3) and Texas State (88.2). After that, he only strung together back-to-back games with 60-plus pass blocking grades once (Georgia Tech, Clemson weeks). As far as run blocking is concerned, three of Petrula’s top-four grades on the year were registered in Week 7 and beyond: Syracuse (79.1), Virginia Tech (65.5), and Notre Dame (65.4).

All in all, his run blocking grade dropped from 68.3 in 2019 to 59.3, which brought down his overall offensive grade to 62.4, his lowest since his freshman season. That said, Petrula’s PFF pass blocking grade (64.5) was a career high, a notable improvement considering the uptick in pass volume in 2020, and he took home All-ACC Second-Team honors for the second season in a row.

With another year in Cignetti’s system, Petrula could further his interior pass protection skills and help BC reestablish consistency and explosiveness in the run game.

Either way, he’ll offer versatility on the field and leadership off it, a luxury for head coach Jeff Hafley.