Vol. 2: 2022 Fall Camp Notebook

Boston College got after it again Saturday morning in Fish Field House. The humidity level was hovering around 75%. The temperatures were hiking up to the mid-to-high 80s. And the sweat was dripping.

After the two-hour practice, starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec met with media, as did three other veterans: Notre Dame transfer tight end George Takacs, sixth-year defensive end Marcus Valdez and fifth-year linebacker Vinny DePalma.

It's just the start of fall camp, and there's still a full season to play, but each of them reflected on how far they've come in their respective careers to reach this moment.

Vinny DePalma doesn't take anything for granted. After all, he knows what it's like to have the game taken away from him. Two seasons ago, he was sidelined with a season-ending Achilles injury. Last year, he returned and was a mainstay in the Eagles' linebacking corps, making seven starts and 54 total tackles. It was a bounce-back performance for the DePaul Catholic product who saw action in all 13 games of the 2019 campaign and even registered 10 stops as a true freshman before redshirting that season. DePalma took a moment Saturday to address how it feels to enter the preseason as a fifth-year player.

"As you get older and you get more comfortable, you're more familiar with the scheme," DePalma said. "You're more familiar with your teammates, your coaches. It's good just to kind of look back and appreciate your career. Every practice and every day is a gift."

It's no secret that the Eagles have been lacking in the pass rushing department the last few years. Each of the last three seasons, BC has ranked 10th or worse in the ACC in sacks per game. In 2021, the Eagles averaged just 1.75, not to mention that they were 126th nationally in Pro Football Focus pass rushing grade (63.2). Longtime defensive end Marcus Valdez pulled his weight last year, though. Valdez missed the first three games with a thumb injury and dealt with an elbow injury he suffered against North Carolina State but still ended up tallying a career-high five sacks, which was tops on the team. He also registered a team-leading 25 pressures, per PFF, and batted down a pair of passes, in addition to recording 7.0 TFLs and forcing two fumbles.

Valdez, now a two-year starter, decided to return to the Heights for one final go-around. He told reporters Saturday that he'll be able to finish his MBA this season. On the field, he's working on the "details," like knowing run/pass situations and, as a pass rusher, getting an even better feel for when to take his shots.

Valdez is well aware that BC needs to be better on the defensive front, where the Eagles have been thin the last few years yet actually have quite a bit of depth to offer in 2022.

"We gotta focus on rushing the passer, obviously," Valdez said. "And our run defense was not good enough last year. That all starts up front. You can't depend on the secondary. We gotta do our job."

Phil Jurkovec calls last year's hand fracture, which cost him six games, a "fluke thing." He hypothesized that the only way to prevent an injury like that would be to try to curl up when you fall. The injuries he's more focused on are the little ones he sustained during the 2020 season when he "took too many hits." Jurkovec separated his shoulder that year, his first under center for BC, and also went down with a non-contact knee injury against Louisville that sidelined him for the regular season finale at Virginia.

Jurkovec emphasized that limiting the hits he takes is a priority in 2022. He noted, however, that he feels good right now.

Jurkovec has been through the wringer in his career. He was a highly-touted, four-star recruit who didn't develop the way he or Notre Dame expected under then-head coach Brian Kelly. The 6-foot-5 dual-threat quarterback attempted only 18 passes in his two seasons behind Ian Book and, at one point, contemplated a position switch. Then he transferred to BC. And, while he's starred, he's dealt with his fair share of injuries, most notably last year's season-threatening fracture.

Throughout those experiences, Jurkovec has evolved and adapted.

"I was thinking about that out there," he said Saturday. "First training camp coming into college, it's a lot different than anything you did before in high school. So it was challenging at first, but I just feel so much better about the game, about being out there and practicing, making the plays—different types of plays that, before, I didn't feel great about."

Jurkovec is finding comfort in offensive coordinator John McNulty's offense, too. He mentioned how his receivers like the scheme because, for some plays, they have the freedom to take routes different ways. He added that he and his wideouts have improved significantly in the system since the spring, given that they've had time to study it.

It's an overlooked part of the game, but there is more than one way to snap a football. Alec Lindstrom was BC's center each of the last three seasons, earning first-team All-ACC honors in both 2020 and 2021. Now, it's Drew Kendall's responsibility.

"There's different techniques," Jurkovec explained. "You can snap it, and it can spiral, or there's the dead snap, where they kind of hold it differently. Under center, everybody kind of has like a little different feel, I guess."

He joked: "Zion [Johnson] was too muscular, like too big. It was hard getting the snap from him."

Jurkovec pointed out that Lindstrom was a lefty, and Kendall is a righty. By the end of Lindstrom's career, he was an extra set of eyes for Jurkovec. Kendall, a redshirt freshman, is still working toward that ability, but Jurkovec said the former four-star recruit has been doing "really well."

"He keeps getting bigger," Jurkovec said. He keeps growing. He's done really well with his snaps. He's worked on that. He's accepted center, he's kind of coming into his own there. But, in terms of the knowledge of the game, he's been really good."

BC was quiet in the portal this offseason, but the Eagles did add Notre Dame graduate transfer tight end George Takacs this spring. Takacs amassed just eight receptions for 78 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 29 games at Notre Dame. But he was a key part of the Fighting Irish's 2021 offense, considering that the former four-star recruit played 407 snaps last year. He told reporters Saturday that he made the move to BC so that he could become a complete tight end—a tight end who can block and catch.

Takacs also cited the trust he shares with McNulty, who served as his position coach the last two years in South Bend, as well as Jurkovec, who arrived at Notre Dame with him in 2018.

"I know Phil very well. And I know that he's a hell of a quarterback," Takacs said. "That's the guy I knew loved to throw to tight ends, and that's the guy I had a previous relationship with. So when I was talking to him, I knew that he wouldn't lead me wrong."

Yesterday, I highlighted wide receiver Nick Nicotra in my updated roster takeaway piece. But I learned Saturday that Nicotra is one of three Eagles who made the team at a spring walk-on tryout. The others are defensive back Brandon Summers and Jackson Gugni, who is listed as a defensive back but has been taking reps at long snapper behind starter Gunner Daniel.

Nicotra is a 6-foot-2, 192-pound wideout who previously attended UMass but didn't play football there. Summers actually picked off a Daelen Menard pass during this year's spring game and returned it 46 yards.

Gugni spent his first two years at BC on the swim team. He's from Beverly Hills, Michigan, and attended Groves High School, where he was a two-time All-American and set the 50 free school and league record.