Yet another Eagle in Atlanta

11 years ago, the Falcons changed their franchise by selecting Matt Ryan in the First Round. He will retire with every Falcon record imaginable. If he is going to be a Hall of Famer, he will probably need four or five more years of elite play. A key component to the final stretch of his career will be a fellow BC guy Chris Lindstrom, who the Falcons selected with the 14th pick.

Lindstrom's story is a good one for BC. He was a solid, local recruit, who BC identified and closed early. He got good coaching and got better every year. Lindstrom also deserves a lot of credit for his work the past 12 months. He shot up draft boards with his senior year, great week at the Senior Bowl, strong combine and good workouts.

On a personal note, I am giddy. Matt changed what it was like being a BC fan here in Georgia. Adding another critical piece from BC will make all their success in the next few years that much better. And I think Lindstrom will be a difference maker here. The Falcons line has been bad since Shannahan left. Lindstrom will give Matt more time.

Congrats to Lindstrom. Congrats to the BC staff for getting him here. Go BC. Go Falcons.

What to expect out of the OLine

The Herald's article on Chris Lindstrom got me thinking about the Offensive Line.  Even with all the talent upgrade and the new tempo offense, ultimately the success of this team is very dependent on the offensive line. It needs to be better than last year and needs to be elite if BC is going to be anything more than a seven win team.

As the Herald reported, Lindstrom has moved and is penciled in at RT. We know Baker is still at Center. Transfer Marcell Lazard, played Tackle at West Virginia, but is seems with Lindstrom at RT and presumably Montiero at LT, he would be inside. The other guard might be Schmall. On paper, that is a lot of questions marks. There is also plenty of talent and potential. That is where coaching comes into play.

One of the reasons we had great success at OLine, is we had great OL coaches. They knew what they wanted and could mold players accordingly. Things started to fall apart under Spaz when he had poor OLine coaches. Based on his first two years, I thought Addazio and his OL coach Justin Frye were perfect. They had the guys ready. Then it all fell apart. Last year was a little better, but still not elite. Now with more depth and experience on the line, this should be a great season. The coaches and the players should be on the same page.

A great OL can hide a lot of mistakes. BC needs a great OL to be great. My expectations are improvement. I will hope that they make a big lead and become the ACC's best again. That is when you will know BC has turned the corner.

Two more recruits for Addazio

BC had a busy weekend. Coming off of on campus camps, BC made some offers and landed some new recruits. The big name is Alec Lindstrom. He's one of the better players in Massachusetts and has a chance to play either offensive or defensive line. He's also the brother of BC's Chris Lindstrom. That aspect of his recruitment and commitment can't be overlooked. It means that players and their families still believe. Coming off a terrible season, that is not always a given.

The second player who verballed to Addazio was New York WR Noah Jordan-Williams. This is also a good sign, since Jordan-Williams held a Syracuse offer, is from Syracuse's backyard and turned down Syracuse's new pass happy offense. Those are tough recruiting hurdles.

More verbals should be coming out BC's camps and satellite efforts.