The hybrid defensive end is an outgrowth from the proliferation of athletic dual threat quarterbacks that changed the landscape of college football.
Modern college edge rushers rely more on svelte and speed than bulk and brawn to contain mobile quarterbacks who can escape the pocket and create on the fly.
Boston College right defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku is the prototypical ACC edge rusher who will anchor the Eagles’ front seven when BC opens the season against Northern Illinois on Sept. 2 at Alumni Stadium.
Ezeiruaku, a 6-2, 251-pound junior from Williamstown, N.J., was named All-ACC preseason first team after earning second team honors at the end of last year.
“I like playing defensive end a lot,” said Ezeiruaku. “Back in the day defensive ends were 6-4 and pushing 300 pounds. I like my role and defensive ends have changed because it has become a pass-first game.
“In order to stop the pass, you have to get athletic guys on the outside with speed, long arms and athleticism who can go sack the quarterback. I like where the game is going and it puts me at that premier position.”
The ACC is loaded top to bottom with athletically gifted quarterbacks who challenge defenses with the run pass option. The apex dual threat quarterback to come out of the ACC was Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner and 2018 first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens.
While Ezeiruaku never faced Jackson, he saw plenty of his successor, Malik Cunningham, who is making inroads as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots.
“Those athletic quarterbacks are not just sitting back there in the pocket,” said Ezeiruaku. “A lot of these quarterbacks are mobile now, especially in the ACC.”
Ezeiruaku moved into a starting role early in the 2022 season as the counterpart to left defensive end Marcus Valdez. Ezeiruaku made good on his promotion by leading the Eagles with 8.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for a loss, the most TFL’s by a BC defensive end since Zach Allen (Denver Broncos) in 2018. Ezeiruaku was fourth in the ACC in both those categories.
“They put numbers and rankings on us the players but you’ve got to take it day by day and worry about what I can control,” said Ezeiruaku. “I just want to do my thing and play football.”
Ezeiruaku jumped the depth chart when starting right end Shitta Sillah suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the opener against Rutgers. The 6-4, 253-pound graduate student from Somerset, N.J., has recovered and will bookend the defensive front opposite Ezeiruaku.
“It is going to help out a lot having him back,” said Ezeiruaku. “Having that athletic threat on the other side means if I’m double teamed, he’s single blocked. When he starts to do what he can do they will take the double team off me. We can both have success but it is not just us.”
Left offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo and center Drew Kendall were the only members on the front five that played most of last season. Trapilo started 10 games and Kendall started 11 while the rest of the positions were turnstiles. Trapilo and Kendall are from Norwell, but attended different high schools.
Trapilo is a prototype left tackle with NFL proportions. Trapilo is a 6-8, 313-pound redshirt junior and a double Eagle. Trapilo played scholastically at Boston College High School in Dorchester, where he was a four-star recruit.
Trapilo had to contain and control opposing hybrid ACC edge rushers cut from the same cloth as Ezeiruaku, Sillah and Valdez. That, according to Trapilo, requires getting to know the opposition.
“It can be tough and you have got to know your matchup and that comes from watching film,” said Trapilo. “If he is a power guy, you know you are going to get a lot of bull rush or if he is going to work more moves and try to capture and edge on you.
“It is really about knowing your opponent. It’s knowing their strengths and weakness and what you can do and what you can work on during the week to counter.”
Lewis Bond was part of the Zay Flowers support group in the outside passing game last season. The 5-11, 188-pound redshirt sophomore from Chicago intends to become a credible option in quarterback Emmett Morehead’s progressions this season.
Flowers, an All-ACC first-team selection and first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens, dominated the passing lanes with 1,077 yards on 78 catches with 12 touchdowns. The next split end on the stat sheet was Jaelen Gil with 27 catches for 388 yards. Gil entered the transfer portal and ended up at Fresno State.
Wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt has only a few weeks of training camp left to find Morehead some deep passing options.
“We still have a lot of good receivers in the group,” said Bond, who had five catches for 51 yards last season. “Wyatt talks every day about that. He says, ‘we can’t worry about who is not in the room, I only care about who is here.’ ”