Summer Practice Report: Treshaun Ward Shines, Offensive Stars Emerge, & New Commit Brady Bekkenhuis

we're now into practice number three for Boston College football and hey that offense is starting to look good you are locked on Boston College your daily podcast on the Boston College Eagles part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello everyone and welcome this is locked on Boston College your team every day today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the sports stops sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a booster bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer along visit fanduel.com to get started we are now on to practice number three for Boston College football and on today's show I'm going to give you a good old recap of what I saw during practice I'll give you some names that have stood out and Boston College football landed a commitment that I did not get onto uh get into yesterday's show I'll talk about who that is and why it's a big deal in segment number three now back to BC football on campus I didn't get to go to practice on Sat Sunday but I was there Monday and practice thankfully was back inside the fish Fieldhouse because it was hot out again and it's about 20 degrees colder in cooler in the in the fish Fieldhouse but the big story of the day wasn't the weather it was the play of the offense now you know I think going into this season a lot of folks had high expectations for this offense you have Thomas C is one of the more explosive quarterbacks in the ACC still leading the way but how is all the new weapons going to look around him so you saw more drills during practice and that's always great you saw some seven v7s and 11 versus 11 so what I'm talking about here is not the drills H drills are drills coaches could tell you who did best there I was I was watching when they were going against their compet you know their competing defensive backs or you know how the defense looks against the offense and there were some things that I thought really stood out to me first of all Thomas castalanos himself looks very very poised as a quarterback right now you know there were times where the he would have time in the pocket and the pocket would start to shrink and instead of just booking it and run he did something which I think is a big step in terms of his development he stepped up into the pocket more and he kept doing it and was impressed with that because it gave him a chance to get the ball out um and he would hit some of his targets doing that that seems like a huge you know uh piece to watch for is the calmness of of castalanos if he can stay calm in the pocket and find guys like Jon Bradley or Lewis Bond or Jaden SK or even Kamari Morales that will help him be a more efficient quarterback you don't he didn't seem like he had Happy Feet at all it was like he stepped up stepped up and he just was calm and just got rid of the ball and um I think a lot of credit for that when I talked to castanos after practice you have to give credit to Bill O'Brien will long and Jonathan debiaso um debiaso their their uh quarterback's coach is getting a lot of Praise Bill O'Brien called him one of the best young quar uh coaches he's ever worked with um and I think you could see that with the quarterbacks because not only does castalanos looked good but I thought Grayson James has has looked pretty solid too he's I I I feel confident that be has a good solid backup going into next year I don't think he's going to take castalano's spot but watching him play against the twos he looks fine he's got a good arm um he's a lot bigger than castalanos too now folks want to know like who are the names to watch for and the name that I continue to go back to uh that I thought had a massive practice was Tran Ward um the the the battle between him and Kai robish show for you know how they're going to be used is going to be something fascinating to watch because right now they're doing 7v7 and 11 vers 11 I don't think it dictates who's the starter and who's the backup at this point because I think what O'Brien's doing is just using guys to get them snaps right like you want to be able to make sure that like yeah if it's if it's a lot of passing Downs you still want to get Kai robish show out there to try some of that stuff um and so they they would you know they they just kind of cycled through the first the ones and twos throughout the day but Ward was mostly with the ones one of castellano's go-to moves now is this swing pass and he does it a lot um I've seen him throw it a lot um and it's kind of his safety valve like sometimes you see a quarterback who will have like a tight end uh you know groon was always a big one for Brady or even when Hunter long was here uh jakovic would always you know dump down to him if he had to I think this year your your dump down uh safety valve is going to be Tran Ward uh because he got the he gets the ball to him a lot and that's a great thing like ward has Ward isn't like he's not electric speed he's got good speed he's faster than Robos show uh but he's got good hands I like the way he plays and he's got decent size so we saw a lot of castalanos getting him the ball and getting him the ball getting him the ball uh and that seemed to work really well because you know when the defense started to collapse instead of having castalanos taking those hits you got it to your running back on the edge and he didn't even need to take the hits either because he could just get bumped out of bounds it keeps your guys fresh so that's a that's a an addition I think we didn't see a ton of that last year because I don't think robish show had that kind of moves and broom broom had it here and there but he wasn't very um I felt like he never really got going with with uh castalanos and brim hasn't been at practice at all uh because of an injury that we don't know what ex we don't know the ex extent of what that's going to look like uh so I liked I love the play of uh trewn Ward another question people have been asking me tight end position who is the starting tight end right now again it's kind of similar to running back they're not playing because they're doing 11 vers 11 they're doing a lot of sets with three wide receivers um and a running back they're not in a tight end they're not doing a ton with multiple tight ends yet I'm sure you'll see that more we could talk more about it when it's a scrimmage so you see more of like Camari Morales with the ones and Jeremiah Franklin with the twos but I imagine there's going to be times where they going to use multiple tight end sets so it could happen but that I got to say the tight end position is a little thin this year uh you have two starters I I I think Morales will be your every down uh tight end and Franklin will have his role too but then it's Matt Reagan uh who hasn't played yet but you know he's had his moments and there's not a lot after that Holden Simmons who's a red shirt freshman tight end who came from Governor's Academy last year is gone um s like he's in the transfer portal Ryan boltwood um he he's been playing with the three so I haven't seen much of him yet so tight end position a little bit thin there um There Was You know the fun thing with Bill O'Brien I said this on yesterday's episode but it's fun to talk about more is his intensity this guy is an intense coach um but I want to be fair that it's not like he's a bear out there just screaming and yelling out everyone because you do see him doing the positive coaching too like he'll scream and yell about making mistakes or like you got to fix this and fix that but he'll also be like hey yeah great play right there I loved what you did blah blah blah blah blah so he is he's a presence to watch like I again I go back to we didn't get the chance to watch Jeff Halley PR uh at practices because he had Clos practices which is miserable as someone who covers the team now I get to watch it and get to watch how he works with college kids um and he's tough and which you need to be in football as he said we're not in the library so so I'm going to coach him up the best way I know how to he's tough but I think he's fair and the co kids respond to him they really do listen I think there's a a really strong relationship already between Bill O'Brian his staff and the players watching the the positional coaches is the same way like there you know I watch Cedric lot for instance as a true freshman wide receiver as he was doing a drill and he he missed a pass I think he might have dropped it and he knew right away 10 10 push-ups he gets over there does it right away and the coaches come over talk to him like you got to fix this you got to do better here and there that's been interesting to watch um in terms of uh the backups right I think a lot of folks want to watch the backups the name I want to tell you guys to watch for is Reed Harris Reed Harris is gonna be something he's 65 6'4 he but he's not like built like a tight end so I know folks have been asking about him at tight end he's slender he's like Geron Bradley's kind of Slender too like they're not like big dudes that can block he's a he's a wide receiver but he's made some nice plays the last couple days and I've heard buzz from you know talking to different people that this is a guy that could be playing a role in this offense six and he's from Montana right how how random is that now in the second segment I want to give you some notable names some names on the offense and defense that I've noticed have been making plays and I'll explain why you should be knowing more about them in just a moment passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance with superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cap with all the parts and the prices you want it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guarantee fit only available to us customers thank you for making lockon Boston College your first listen of the day for your second listen enjoy the locked on college football podcast with Spencer mofin Spencer gets you ready for an exciting season on the grid eye with a discussion of the upcoming season and the everchanging landscape of College athletics including Commerce realignment the trans trans portal nil new college football expanded playoffs and more locked on college football is available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day all right folks as we get into our second segment I want to tell you guys about our Eagles Nest uh program that we have going on here at lockon BC it is part of what's called subtext I send you text messages videos all sorts of goodies to your phone right now it is free through the football season if you want to get to be part of this all you have to do is click the link in the show notes and use the promo code there still a couple left and I'd love to see you guys come on I've been giving a new video with me on it telling you about at practice like right outside the practice facility every single day check it out it's free for six months there's no obligation so even at the end of six months you say nah I don't want to do this you don't have to you don't have to put a credit card or anything like that just try it out give it a test run it's called um the Eagles Nest it's part of the um our insiders program here at locked on check out the notes for more okay so let's give you some names of people that I've noticed at Camp so far so on the offensive line I think everyone has been playing pretty solid I haven't seen like pre- Snap penalties and things like that while they're practicing uh hasn't been it's been hard to see like oh this guy is stepping up on the defensive side of the ball one name I would like to tell you guys about is Davon Crouch Davon Crouch or Bam Bam Crouch is one of of the starting linebackers right now in a lot of the he's playing with the ones um he is out there with Cam Arnold and he is a big physical linebacker he can lay a hit better than any linebacker I've seen in the last four years um and is uh lining up to be one of the starters going into this season it looks like to me he makes plays I've seen him stuff runs I've seen him get at the quarterback I've seen him in coverage bam Crouch I think is probably the linebacker I'm most excited to watch um and has the best best chance of playing because the other linebacker that I've watched a little bit is seone Hala who you probably all saw a little bit last year at the end of the year um He's listed as a defensive back on the um the roster but he's practicing and doing drills with the linebackers so he could be like a strong safety type that kind of does both but I'm imagining he's more of a linebacker uh I've seen him he had a interception on Monday uh and he's been making plays he's faster linebacker but he's also big he's got some good size to him too uh so those are two linebackers that I've been I've been enjoying watching another name I think folks want to know more about is Cameron Martinez the the cornerback from Ohio State or defensive back I kind of just blew my my surprise here we didn't know if he was gonna be a safety or Corner the answer is from what I've seen so far is he's going to be a slot Corner uh it's been right now the slot has been worked between uh Cameron Martinez and K Johnson krie Johnson's had most of the ones been mostly with the ones but I've seen Cameron Martinez rotating in there too um he's made some good plays he had a big and this is gonna jump ahead I'm recording on Tuesday I'll tell you a little bit he made a big big physical hit on Tuesday um and I think he's gonna be something uh you know I think folks want to know more about him you know now that we've got to see him play a little bit more uh he's been uh you know very active in the defensive side of the ball so he's a slot he's not a safety the starting safeties have been KP price and Jaylen Chic uh but they rotate the way Tim Lewis has been doing it he moves guys around a lot and even watching it on the field it's hard to sometimes tell who's the corner who's the safety because they kind of they shift in and out he moves some guys in and uh he goes for multiple looks is what Bill O'Brien is saying um on the offensive side of the ball one name that I mentioned earlier was uh Reed Harris but we already talked about him uh the other name I think that you guys need to know about and I want to make sure we we're I'm clear that he's doing well is Kai robish show like I just talked a lot about trewn Warden how important he is robas show still is doing what he did last year at a very high level um he's had some big physical runs like even in practice like he just layers lays down that shoulder sometimes and it's like boom um and you know when he's working with the twos he he he makes sure the he makes sure that he's uh running them over but even when he plays with the one I've seen some really good runs out of him so far so I don't expect him to like lose the starting job I just think he's going to have a more specific role and have specific plays that are more tailored to what he can do uh which is make some big plays um and then an name I really haven't talked much about um and it's more just a name you should be more aware of so the starting edges right now are metalik paa and Donovan AAR both the same guys I think the last two years at least that have been the starting edges they're doing fine they're not going they're not neither are in Jeopardy of ever losing their job they both look like they're doing a good job it's the backups that have kind of caught my attention so Edward keni is I think he's number 17 is still one of the starting edges and he's played a bit so we've seen him the other Edge I was expecting it to be Gilbert Tong rangu we've seen him play when Jeff affley was here but it's not the backup starting Edge right now is Josiah Griffin and getting to see him up close in personal which is what I love about going to practice I get to see the kids actually practicing he looks more the SI like he's bigger than nto and Donovan but he's like he's built like a defensive end like big physical like muscular guy um Gilbert is more of he's not like George Rooks because George Rooks is bigger but he's a he's a a wider Edge uh so it looks to me like right now Josiah is playing more with the twos uh and that can change but he's a name that I'm interested to see more out of especially when we get to scrimmage season I want to see what he does when he's actually in gameplay because he could be the next like blossoming Edge rusher for PC we just need to see it like in practice you haven't you don't see a ton of it and honestly I have to say too watching it practice sometimes there's plays in the backfield when it's a giant mess of bodies it's hard to see who's who uh if they're like if they just blow up play dead you you can't see like who got their hands on castalanos or who got their hands on Kai robish show uh because they usually do blow it dead pretty quick they do tackle too though it's not like they're not tackling out there so those are the names that right now through Monday's um practice that have caught my attention uh and if you have questions come on over the Insiders you can ask me any about anybody like if you join the Eagles Nest and you have direct access you can text me any question you want like hey AJ how is how is um Bryce steel looking so far I'll answer it I'll answer any question you guys have so join up on that now in our final segment we're GNA take get out of camp for a little bit and I want to get into a football commitment that happened over the weekend that we need to talk about and why BC is continuing to kill it in the state of Massachusetts I love sports I love them so much I never want them to stop stop but at the playoffs wind down we get fewer games and the sports aren't sportsing like I want them to but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood I'm thinking about those Red Sox right now Raphael Des he's been on a hot streak you can get anytime Raphael de home run uh Wagers every game and see how you do on FanDuel and you can join up by joining uh hooking up FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com and start making the most out of your summer with FanDuel the official sports betting part Major League Baseball all right folks if you are looking for a second listen many of you your first listen every day is locked on BC I appreciate each and every one of you because you're the lifeblood of this podcast and if you're new become an everyday listen to the show every single day we're the only Boston College podcast to do this five days a week if you're done with this episode and you have missed some go check those out but if you haven't if you're already up to date on everything VC go check out lockdown ACC hosted by Kenton Gibbs and um Alex Donell gives you everything you know need to know about the ACC conference check that out wherever YouTube YouTube or podcast finally let's get into some recruiting news I know you guys want love to talk recruiting and Boston College is on a tear right now in the class of 2026 they landed their fifth commitment in the class of 26 they're fourth from the state of Massachusetts with Brady beckin hus an offensive tackle 66 out of Arlington Mass this he chose Boston College after taking visits to ruter in Maryland this this last week and Boston College where he was at the barbecue he is the third Massachusetts offensive lineman to commit to Bill O'Brien from the class of 2026 and the third to do so in the last like four months he had offers again from Syracuse Maryland and ruter and all this talk that we've had about uh Matt Apple bomb and the struggles with the offensive line in terms of recruiting they seem to be dissipating and I don't know if it's the Bill O'Brien effect or or what's going on here but now BC has three offensive linemen for next year they have two only only two for this year and I I've said on previous episodes Beck and ho was one I was expecting there's still more out there there's guys that they've had good relationships they could be looking at four or five offensive lineman easy maybe even more for next year but I love I love that Bill O'Brien is building up his recruiting class uh already and he's doing it in first of all in the offensive and defensive line all but the quarterback are linemen off three offensive one defensive and four out of the five are from the state of Massachusetts he's he's planting the Boston College flag in the state of Mass he is doing what he said he would do but had struggled in the class of 25 now that he has the time to really relate to these kids get to know them get to know their coaches and families he's been able to have a much bigger impact than he did in the class of 25 and I think this class is already showing like BC is not gonna let the players they want out of state if they can hope if they can do it you know there's other guys like lanal U-Haul Hall from um Dexter South who has a big offer list he'll be the next one to watch for but right now you know it's Jonathan debiaso and Matt Apple bomb really in the state of Massachusetts that have actually absolutely crushed it BC has a 35th ranked recruiting class and these are kids are kids I don't expect to leave while on the other hand Syracuse who uh I believe my my parents site wrote a whole article about how they had a great class 26 it's down to one commitment because all the kids that they were all crowing about are all decommitting because of course they are uh when you go after four stars that have no relationship to your school when a school like Florida Florida State or Miami goes after him they're going to leave in a heartbeat all these kids that BC are going to going for have um good offer sheets Mt Matt fitzer Mt Fitzgerald um would have had he's the highest rank that they have he doesn't have a huge offer list but he would have believe me he would have um so this is a good start for BC football uh their recruiting class is looking good and it's just going to get keep getting better now on tomorrow's show I have Tuesdays uh practice notes to go over with you guys all as there's more news to go over and a new name on offense that I wanted to talk about we'll have a whole bunch more so make sure you lock on to BC wherever you get your podcast or YouTube follow me on Twitter at ajl 247 get on that Eagles Nest right now sign up as in the in the show notes make sure you become an Insider here we'll be back again tomorrow for another episode of Locked on Boston College your team every day