Lonergan Enters the Arena
Boston College will have a new starting quarterback take the field on August 30th vs Fordham: Dylan Lonergan, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Alabama. Head coach Bill O’Brien was familiar with Lonergan from BoB’s time as the offensive coordinator with the Crimson Tide in 2023 and 2024. O’Brien must have liked what he saw in Tuscaloosa and in training camp in Chestnut Hill, because Lonergan has already been declared the starter ahead of Week 1.
His profile as a QB up to
this point, which we’ve discussed on BCI before, is that of an efficient pocket passer. That skillset makes a ton of sense for the system BoB wants to set up at BC, so Lonergan is in basically the perfect coaching situation to succeed. And although he hasn’t shown much rushing ability up to this point in his career, scouts noted that Lonergan is not easy to bring down and does a great job of standing tall in the pocket against pressure.
Lonergan was a 4-star recruit out of high school and the #36 overall recruit in the Class of 2023, per ESPN. Expectations for him are getting pretty high especially now that he has beaten out Grayson James in camp. He has yet to see any serious game action in college, though, so whether he has a slow start or makes an immediate impact remains to be seen. But with a solid running game and plenty of talented receivers to throw to, all of the pieces are in place for him to have a great rookie season (and even career) at Boston College.
Grayson James Remains on the Roster
Backing up Dylan Lonergan this season will be redshirt senior Grayson James, the transfer from FIU who took over the starting role from Thomas Castellanos in the middle of the 2024 season. James performed admirably in his limited playing time last season, finishing his year with 1,202 passing yards, 6 TDs, and 2 INTs in six appearances. His skillset as a passer and reliability in the pocket was a great improvement over Castellanos, and it was a big reason as to why he took the starting job at halftime against Syracuse.
James showed that he was more than capable of running BoB’s offensive system as he led BC to wins over Western Kentucky, Syracuse, UNC, and Pitt, plus close losses against SMU and Nebraska. The coaching staff put him into more of a game manager role and didn’t ask him to make a lot of huge throws, but he still often stepped up when he needed to and made a handful of impressive throws downfield throughout the year. Lonergan may have beat out Grayson James in training camp, but should anything change during the season, BC knows that they have a very solid back-up option at QB.
