Moving on with our position previews, today we take a look at the offensive line. Matt Applebaum returns as one of the few holdovers for Bill O’Brien’s coaching staff. He had a strong showing in his second stint leading the position at Boston College last season. Very critically, Applebaum also gets one of the brightest offensive line minds out there, former NFL Head Coach Doug Marrone. Marrone, longtime friend of O’Brien joins the staff as a senior analyst and will play a key role in the development of this group.
While the starting guards have made their way to the big leagues, three full time starters return and the Eagles still have some additional starting experience. It’s going to be important for the team to build depth with a big gap between the starters and the greener guys. The unit helped lead BC to the second best rushing offense in the conference.
Key Departures: RG Christian Mahogany, LG Kyle Hergel
Center Drew Kendall enters his redshirt junior season after having started every game for the past two seasons. One of the top recruits in BC’s history and son of Eagle Hall of Famer Pete Kendall, the Massachusetts legend continues his role as the catalyst up front. Kendall was named a Freshman All-American in 2022 and backed it up with a steady performance last season. He emerges as a leader of the team, representing BC at ACC media day alongside teammates Thomas Castellanos and Donovan Ezeiruaku.
The most seasoned lineman on the team is the All-ACC second tackle Ozzy Trapilo. The 6-8 senior missed just one game last season with injury but has otherwise been a stalwart on the line with over 30 starts to his name, moving all around. Last season, he found a groove at right tackle and should continue that role. The elder statesman of the group is Jack Conley. He started all 12 games in 2022 and has six more stars as well including two spot starts at tackle when Trapilo was out, and three more technically at tight end with the Eagles looking for max support. Conley’s a big guy who will complete the right side at guard.
Logan Taylor is the other returning starter from last season. The former Virginia guard Logan Taylor is one of the most versatile guys on the offensive line. O’Brien noted on the Bill O’Brien Podcast with Jon Meterparel recently that Taylor could probably snap the ball if we asked him to. versatility on full display immediately, as while he started every game at left tackle last season, he will be kicking inside to replace Hergel at guard. With two starts under his belt, redshirt sophomore Jude Bowry should start at left tackle this season where he backed up Taylor last year. Those two starts came when Bowry was a true freshman, but he still saw some action last season. He stood tall at left tackle for nearly all of the near upset bid against Florida State. Bowry will hope to blossom into a consistent starter here filling in the Taylor vacancy.
Seniors Dwayne Allick and Kevin Cline were primary backups at right guard and tackle respectively last season. Allick has played across the board and has 11 starts, while Cline has two. Cline has the size on Allick, but both again have similar levels of experience. Both guys figure to be in the mix throughout the season in similar roles.
Otto Hess saw a notable amount of time snapping during the spring game. The junior has seen action in most games across the past two seasons but primarily on special teams. Another BC football son, sophomore Jack Fünke has been working at both tackle and guard this offseason. He should pick up a backup role in one of these spots and begin getting more experience moving forward. No, there is not actually an umlaut in his name, but I would not be surprised if he were to appear full blue man at some point this season.
A few redshirt freshmen to note as well — Ryan Mickow, the big 6-7 Florida man has been seeing work at tackle and Eryx Daugherty flipped over from the defensive line last season. Michael Crounse was listed as the third string center in the spring game.
It’s a solid blend of experience to provide just enough depth on the offensive line. It will take a bit to replace two strong cogs and they’ll thrown into the fire against Florida State, but we should see the coaching staff mold this unit into good form as the season rolls on.