BC Preseason Roundtable 2021: Who is the Most Important Player on Defense?
We are now just a little over a week away from Boston College's opening kickoff against Colgate on September 4th. In our final week of season previews, we got together our staff to talk about the upcoming season. Every day this week we will pose a BC football related question and give our predictions. Today we talk about the most important player on the defensive side of the ball.
Mitch Wolfe: With the injuries that occurred, I think it is now TJ Rayam. Despite being relatively undersized, he’s a very solid nose tackle. Rayam will be the keystone of this defense and the determining factor for their run defense. Even in a four-man front, the run-stuffing nose tackle is extremely important. If Rayam goes down, BC might have to turn to true freshman Nigel Tate, who brings excellent size to the position, but is obviously not very experienced.
AJ Black: I’ll go with Marcus Valdez here. Defensive success is all predicated on some pressure up front. If an offense has all day to get the ball out, quarterbacks can shred even the best secondaries. But if they are feeling pressure, and seeing ghosts like Sam Darnold once said, then everything behind them changes. Valdez has always been on the verge of breaking out, and with a full offseason to work with Vince Oghobaase, along with the strength and conditioning staff, he could finally have that big season. Valdez finished last season with 2.0 sacks, he will need more in 2021 if BC's defense is going to take that next step.
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Editor and publisher of BC Bulletin. '06 graduate of Boston College, who has followed the program as long as he can remember. Has been covering the Eagles for the past nine years, giving expert analysis, recruiting news and breakdowns. Also the host of Locked on Boston College, a daily BC podcast that is part of the Locked On Podcast Network. When he is not writing or producing content on the Eagles, he can be found running, skiing, enjoying craft beers, or spending time with his family. You can follow AJ Black on Twitter @AJBlack_BC and our official site Twitter account is @BulletinBC