101 Days of BC Football: Sean Duggan, #34
By Joe Micik
Sean Duggan is a talented young football player with a problem: he’s apparently Mr. “I Have to Replace Luke Kuechly.”
Oh sure, he even went to the same school as the new Carolina Panther, being Saint Xavier in Cincinnati, and he plays that position (middle linebacker) well, but he’s the unlucky guy who gets to follow up Kuechly’s act. That is quite a task, seeing as how Kuechly had 117 more tackles than the second-place player on the team, Kevin Pierre-Louis. Just about anyone, save for Mark Herzlich in his prime at BC, would pale in comparison, and Herzlich had only 110 in 2008 when he was the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year.
So, the burning question that I know at least a few Eagles fans are asking: what can Sean Duggan do to fill Kuechly’s shoes? Nothing. That’s right, nothing.
Something that we all have to keep in mind right off the bat is that Luke Kuechly was a phenomenon. He was the best defensive player we’ve had on this team in a long, long time, and will in fact go down as one of the best defenders in Boston College football history. You can’t compare Duggan to him, and it’s not fair to Duggan to do so. It’s unfortunate that he will be painted as the “guy who has to replace Kuechly,” but it is what it is, and he’ll just have to let his game speak for itself.
We know from having seen Duggan during his freshman season that he’s a fine player. In nine games in 2011, he made a nice case for himself, amassing 39 tackles, three tackles for a loss, an interception, a quarterback hit, a pass breakup, and a fumble recovery. Reviews of his performance overall were quite good as he definitely showed some talent and agility. Just don’t hold him up to the standard of having to rack up 16 tackles a game like his predecessor.
Boston College will be fine at linebacker, as it’s one of the few areas on the team where the Eagles have good depth. Duggan will have Kevin Pierre-Louis and Steele Divitto behind the defensive line with him, so many tackles will still be made and the world will keep on spinning.