Redskins draft Daniels

The third day of the NFL Draft was good for BC. The Washington Redskins took Steven Daniels in the 7th round. While seventh rounders are expendable and often cut, this is still very good for Daniels and BC. He gets a little more money and BC gets to boast about another draft pick. I don't know if Daniels has the coverage skills to be an star at this level, but he should be very effective.

BC's other two high profile seniors didn't get drafted but both signed free agent deals quickly. Mehdi Abdesmad is headed to Tennessee and Connor Wujciak signed with Philadelphia.

Patriots looking at Daniels and other links

The Patriots need Linebackers and Steven Daniels fits the bill. They looked at him PreDraft and this writer thinks they might be able to get him in late rounds.

This Syracuse blog ranked all the ACC Basketball jobs. I was actually surprised that they didn't put BC at the bottom. I think after Duke and North Carolina all the other jobs are somewhat interchangeable. Some have more tradition and fewer restrictions (Louisville, Syracuse), but the right coach can win and elevate any of the programs. Just look at what Larranaga did in Miami.

Here are the rosters for the Spring Game.

2014 Preview Questions: Is Steven Daniels the best player on Defense?

With all the "Dude" talk and Heisman hype, no one really mentioned that Steven Daniels had a great season. He was active. He was versatile and he was our best tackler. When Daniels got near someone he brought them down. When watching the games back, rarely did he miss a tackler and no one shook him off. He finished the year with 88 tackles (3rd best on the team). This season -- with so few impact players returning on defense -- might be Daniels' time to shine. He will either get swallowed up by the void left in the linebacking corp or take over and dominate.

Daniels' road to the Heights was lined with a few pot holes. He was supposed to be the next great St. X recruit. However, he spent a year Worcester shoring up his academics. Meanwhile the greatest St. X-BC player in school history, Luke Kuechly, was rewriting the record book at Daniels' position of Linebacker. Could anyone fill Kuechly's shoes? Daniels first season was okay but didn't project for his explosion as a sophomore. Last year he finally showed glimpses that he could live up to the St. X legacy.

I don't know how Brown will use Daniels this year. Daniels has enough speed to be used more often in blitz packages. But he can also be used to cover the space left open by other guys rushing. Either way I think he's going to be a difference maker.

Who will be the next true freshman to make an impact?

It used to be BC redshirted everyone. That was TOB's preferred roster management method. As players have developed faster and as BC's needs have changed, we've started using true freshmen more often the last six seasons. Anthony Castonzo, Montel Harris, Luke Kuechly and Chase Rettig all played important roles in their first seasons. In 2011 many true freshmen played although none had the immediate impact that the four previously mentioned did.

Will 2012 see any newbies break out? I doubt we will see anyone start from Day 1 on the offensive line like Castonzo did. I also think our depth at running back will preclude the use of Craan. Despite Pantale going down, I don't think we'll use true freshmen tight ends. That really leaves the defensive side of the ball and wide receiver as areas where there are plenty of snaps and plenty of opportunity. Here are three guys who have a chance to breakout.

1. Harrison Jackson. I am not reading too much into the first scrimmage. Jackson's chances are based more on Martin's willingness to throw it often. Think of the Logan days. We threw it so often that all sorts of young players got the chance to step up.

2. Karim Zoungrana. Like Jackson he's in a high opportunity position -- WR. Because he enrolled early, Zoungrana also has a leg up on the other true freshmen as far as understanding the offense. Plus, he's old! Born in 1992, he's on average two years older than most of his freshmen teammates (why don't we recruit more Canadians?)

3. Steven Daniels. Although Daniels is trying to break into our deepest position, I like his chances to make an impact. He's essentially had his redshirt year by spending last season in prep school. His St. X teammates Kuechly and Duggan also got on the field early in their BC careers.

Daniels going to Prep School and other links

As I tweeted earlier, incoming recruit Steven Daniels will not play for BC this fall. He is scheduled to attend Worcester Academy. The delay is based on academics. Now it probably won't impact us this season, but I hope we retain him as he re-enters the recruiting process.

A Notre Dame site held an interview with Kevin Rogers. In addition to sharing his history, the Q&A was also a reminder of how many big names were on Bob Davey's Notre Dame staffs. (Thanks to Fabian for the link.)

Rivals ranked their top 2-stars of the decade. Many Eagles made the list.

Southernpigskin.com appreciates our great defense.

In my take on the Oline, I mentioned looking at a recruit and projecting to the next level. This article reinforces that BC has certain height requirements for our OLine.

Here is more on Mark Herzlich's charity golf tournament.

I liked BCI's take on the BYU schedule. But there is no way we will ever play ND, Syracuse and BYU in the same season.

This is from a few days ago, but here is HD's take on Rogers.

Both the men's and women's tennis teams earned academic honors.