QBs? yeah we got some QBs

Alright so here's my plan for the QBs, we start Rettig under center and put Shinskie @ TE with Bordner and Marscovetra @ wideout and just run trick plays every down... they'll never know who's really going to throw the ball.

But realistically the QB situation is as convoluted as it was at this time last year, a possible front runner with a few others gunning for his spot.

Assuming the role of DD this year is Uncle Dave Shinskie. Shinskie is the clear frontrunner as he showed flashes of ability last year. While I wouldn't say that the position is his to lose he is the only player with experience and I think there might be a good QB in there somewhere. Here's the issue, if he doesn't progress this year he might find himself quickly replaced. Shinskie spent most of last season locking on to receivers and throwing off his back foot. He didn't show a great ability to read coverages and it didn't seem to improve throughout the year. Maybe there's a lack of commitment, I don't know, but if Shinskie doesn't show some coachability I think you might see someone else starting very soon.

Assuming the role of Justin Tuggle this year will be Marscovetra. He's got the experience now and seems to have some physical tools as he actually beat Tuggle for the backup spot before Tuggle transferred. He wasn't a big name coming in but since then he seems to have developed quite a bit of respect in the program.

This year's Dave Shinskie is Chase Rettig. The big solution to our QB situation Rettig is the biggest name QB to come into BC since recruitment became an online industry. It will be interesting to see if the recruiters are on to something or if they're full of hot air. We know he has a live arm but it will be interesting to see what else he has. I can't wait to see if he lives up to the hype.

This years Marscovetra: Josh Bordner. I'll be honest I put more stock than I should in the recruiting sites so I had pretty much written Bordner off. However Bordner only started playing QB and he's played pretty well. The news out of most seem to suggest that he throws a pretty ball but he's just very raw. After the Crab Bowl (All-MD All-Star Game) Rivals bumped Bordner up to a 3* prospect which actually is the same as Rettig (they are 1* and 4* respectively on ESPN, which only goes to show how much of a crapshoot these things can be.) I feel like Bordner could be a complete wild card.

I'm not even going to try to predict what will happen. However the similarities to Davis' problems last year suggest that Shinskie might improve enough to lock down the starting position (only to decide he doesn't want to go to class and eventually transfer to ECU...) Rettig and Bordner both enrolled early and Marscovetra could bring something to the table so instead of predicting our QBs I'll predict the three early enrollees #s

Chase Rettig will wear #11, it was his number in HS its what he wore at the UA game and with Megwa leaving the number will be available.
I have nothing on Bordner he wore #12 in HS which I'm pretty sure won't be available. traditional QB #s that will be available next year(assuming the school doesn't start allowing offensive/defensive same #s) are 6 7 8 11 18. I'm feeling like Bordner might take 18 so long as Gunnell is cool with it.
KPL wore 24 in HS and that won't be available. LBs can wear pretty much every number so its even harder to predict but the guys a beast so I'll say he rocks #99 (or maybe he'll take over # 7 from the spirit of Akins)

The Big Mac Attack

Mac is making something of a name for himself down at the East-West Shrine game. The immediate word out of the camp was that McLaughlin is a team leader but kept getting burnt on coverage because of his limited physical ability and I'd like to speak on that limit from two points. One is that I felt that Mac looked a step slow and not quite as beastly coming off his achilles injury but I think that time and training will bring it back. I don't think he really started at 100% and even a month off is just not enough to come back up to full speed after a full season where you didn't start at 100%. Secondly, everyone said the same thing about Dunbar and he's been a very reliable backup for the Saints since day 1.

But on to some more buzz about Mac from the Shrine game practices:

We'll take McLaughlin any time
Boston College LB Mike McLaughlin is a bad ass. He can play on our team any time, any day in whatever we're playing. It's been only a practice and a half, but he's clearly the emotional leader of the East defense.

That is from yesterday's practice blog by scouts inc who continued to talk about Mac's intensity today stating that he ran full speed into an O-lineman on purpose. Yeah, that's Mac.

I haven't seen Rettig or Bordner on campus (I don't really know if I'd recognize Bordner) but I've seen KPL a few times. Can't wait for the spring game

Really Billy?

Apparently former BC rejected Billy Bennet has committed to kick for NC State as part of their 2010 class. I'm not going to even try to figure out what the eligibility situation might be with that. I'm cool with Mr. Freeze or even Quigley though.

Respect for GDF and LeGrande has a run in with the Law

It's been confirmed that the Dominick LeGrande arrested for DUI is in fact the Dominick LeGrande who goes to BC. There hasn't been any news as to what BC will do. BC tends to be fairly strict (relative to say Tennessee or Florida State). While this is relatively minor compared to things like FSU I still think you'll see a strong stance from the school because they have a couple options. I personally feel like the best course of action would be to serve LeGrande with a full year suspension but let him practice. It'll be a good PR move, serves as a serious example to players, and ends any ideas LeGrande might have had about leaving after three years. Yet on the football side LeGrande could serve the suspension without losing any eligibility (he didn't redshirt) and probably wouldn't see much playing time anyways (Herzlich and Kuechly have the OLB spots locked up).

In other news the big story yesterday was Lane Kiffin peacing from Rocky Top after one year. This is exactly why I was completely behind DeFillipo when he canned Jags. The fact is that a culture has developed around college football where the coach has become more important than the program. This culture translates to coaches ducking contracts and ruining programs. because of GDF I don't think we'll ever have a Lane Kiffin situation at BC again. Now if we can just get more ADs to man up then CFB might be able to get its act together.

Shakim doesn't play and Marcoux shows experts why they are wrong

I watched the US Army All-American Bowl this afternoon before the NFL games and was disappointed that there was zero mention, notice or recognition that Shakim was there. Obviously he didn't play but not only that there was no word on whether he was still hurt or if he just wasn't as good as the #1 receiver Kyle "Butterfingers" Prater.
To be fair if Shakim was hurt most of the week he probably did not get enough experience to learn the offense, but it still would have been nice to at least see a video with Shakim putting a BC hat on.

In other news the third QB for the East was an unheralded Dartmouth commit who earned his spot on the field by winning FSC's "the Ride," a reality TV show. This guy has had zero attention on the recruiting trail yet propelled the East to two scores and showed the best ability of any of the QBs to play the entire game, embarrassing HS recruiting experts everywhere.

Update: Apparently Shakim did see some playing time at the end of the day but was still battling the shoulder injury, I still would have liked to see a little more attention paid to the guys who didn't see a whole lot of the field.

Rettig, the All-American QB

I've spent the morning watching the UA All-American game purely because I wanted to see Rettig in action. It's hard to get much from the game because the offense seems pretty basic and they seem to really be relying on passing with little offensive balance. Of the three White team QBs I would say Rettig is probably having the best day. (as far as I've been able to figure out is that hes the only one not to throw a pick, although one was dropped) The fact is that it looks like the black team has a much better d-line and the white o-line isnt looking so hot. The black d-backs seem to be diesel too so small victories are the best you can get. Hopefully someone will publish stats for the game.