2011 BC football breakdown, Part XV: Right defensive end
By Joe Micik
I predict the defensive end position is not going to be a problem for the Boston College Football Eagles for a good long while. Not just for the fact that we’ve got decent players here now, but the future at this spot is very bright indeed. Sure, BC lost their starting end, Brad Newman, to graduation, but there is no lacking for talent behind him, especially when you consider some of the names the Eagles hauled in.
Kasim Edebali | 91 | Sophomore
Edebali was Newman’s backup last year, appearing in all thirteen games while recording thirteen tackles, 1.5 of which was for a loss. He is the starter on the 2011 preseason depth chart, but he shouldn’t get too comfortable. There are some guys below him on the depth chart who figure to be really quite good, so even though Edebali will get his chance, if the coaches are itching to try out one of the other dudes as true freshmen, then he could get bumped. It would appear that as of now, however, this will not be the case and he won’t have that problem this year. Edebali is one of the players about whom I would not be surprised to see have a breakout year in 2011; this is his time to shine.
Williams was the backup for Max Holloway on last year’s late-season depth chart, but he has flipped over to the right side and is backing up Edebali. A three-letter winner, he made nine appearances last year and figures to see about as much playing time in his final season. In high school, he played linebacker and was a two-sport athlete.
Parsons is a refugee from the implosion of the Northeastern football program who is eligible to play this season. Out of curiosity, since we don’t often get the chance to see how certain players did against BC before they came to play here, I looked at the stats from the Northeastern/BC game in 2009 to see how he did, and to my disappointment, he did not register on the stat sheet for that 54-0 ass whooping.
Kieran Borcich | 55 | Freshman
This is a name that keeps coming up over and over. Borcich comes to Boston College as a three-star recruit out of the New York City area who has impressed a good many people here on the heights. At 265 lb., he could use a bit more size for the position, but he’s also got the speed to succeed, as his 4.7 40-yard dash time puts him ahead of the other DE recruits in this class, including four-star Connor Wujciak (more on him in a moment). In his junior year of high school, he racked up twenty-four sacks (which would have been more than the entire 2010 BC Eagles team combined). Borcich was part of a Bronxville HS team that went 13-0 last season that utterly nuked its competition, scoring 572 points and allowing 96. He made 22 tackles on that team while sacking five quarterbacks. My expectation is that he will redshirt in 2011.
Mihalik turned down some good football programs to come to Boston College, and he’s gotten good reviews from his high school career. If there is one criticism that I’ve heard leveled against him, however, it’s his size. He weighs in at a meager (by defensive line standards) 235 lb. and is reportedly a very lean 6-8, which will put him behind both of the other incoming recruits in the pecking order, but this is a correctable issue. His father, John Mihalik, played for BC long before I was aware of college football. Highly doubtful that he’ll do anything but redshirt this year as hopefully he’ll bulk up.
Connor Wujciak | 90 | Freshman
Wujciak, brother of Maryland defenseman Alex, is one of the Eagles’ four-star 2011 commits and one of the best recruits in BC’s new class. He turned down arch nemesis Notre Dame, his father’s alma mater, to come here, so we had better put him to good use over his four years. The scouting reports on him are all very good, and though his 40-yard dash time of 4.8 seconds isn’t terrible, Wujciak has said he wants to work on making it better. He comes from a football family and probably won’t disappoint, so I’m sure the temptation will exist to play him as a true freshman, but I think redshirting him would be the best option with at least three other guys lining up for this position. Since he’s not on the two-deep, it appears the coaches agree.
The defensive end position features some good new talent for Boston College, but it might not be until 2012 until we see any of it. With that being the case, look for Edebali to start as a sophomore.