Boston College Eagles: Time for Anthony Brown to soar to new heights

AJ Dillon and the running attack of the Boston College Eagles will again be the focus, but quarterback Anthony Brow has a chance to have a special 2019.

Command of the offense is integral to the success of a quarterback and, in turn, the team. Now entering his third year as the starter under center for the Boston College Eagles, the time for redshirt junior Anthony Brown to shine is now.

The pieces are in place for Brown to put up them all together. He has a talented line in front of him, an All-American in AJ Dillon at running back, and a downfield threat in Kobay White.

Throw in a little consistency as flavoring and Brown will have a nice dish cooking in 2019.

There have been glimpses of how great Brown can be. In the first three game of 2018 — well, two plus a handful of plays — Brown was nearly perfect. He threw 9 touchdown passes and 626 yards. Most importantly, he limited his interceptions to zero.

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A one-touchdown, 4-interception, 96-yard performance against the Purdue Boilermakers followed. This began a streak in which Brown did not throw for 200 yards or more until game 11 against the Florida State Seminoles.

Part of the lack of passing yards was due to Dillon and a high-powered running attack.  But there was indecision and poor completion percentages that led to inconsistency for Brown and the passing game.

Even with these obstacles, Brown was at least not throwing to the other team. He’d go games without tossing a pick. Eight of Brown’s nine interceptions were thrown over the course of three games.

Brown will be counted on as a leader in 2019 and he has all the tools to take the Eagles offense to the next level.

Taking the next step

Brown showed improvement from 2017 in his 12 starts in 2018. Though he never quite matched his level of performance from the first three games, Brown certainly took steps to be a better quarterback.

He finished with 20 touchdowns against nine interceptions while throwing for 2121 yards. Brown’s completion percentage, even at 55 percent, was better than the 52 percent he completed has a freshman.

Showing off his arm and opening the playbook allowed Brown to improve on his yards per attempt by nearly two, jumping to 7.4 in 2018 from 5.3 in 2017.

Brown showed composure in bouncing  back from a knee injury that cut short his 2017 season. However, by design or not, Brown ran less in 2018. After running for 210 yards as a freshman, Brown had only 85 on the ground in 2018.

On Saturday against the Virginia Tech Hokies, Brown will be looking to improve to 2-1 against Boston College’s ACC foes. As a freshman, Brown passed for 166 yards, ran for 51 and even caught a 25-yard touchdown reception in a 23-10 Eagles loss.

Last season, in a 31-21 victory that turned out to be the last for the Eagles in 2018, Brown was 15-26 for 177 yards and one touchdown pass. He also carried the ball 7 times for 37 yards.

It’s a pretty straightforward fact that the better that Brown and the Eagles are in the passing game, the less opponents will rely on an eight-man front. Dillon is still a gifted enough runner, but life can be made easier if the passing game is a threat.

Brown has the arm strength and the acumen to take that next step and help the Boston College Eagles in their quest to break the 7-win barrier. A season of 25-30 touchdown passes, 2700 yards, and interceptions under 10 is completely plausible.

To get this, completing 60 percent or more of his passes is a necessity. Navigating the stingy defenses of the ACC will be a barrier, but it is one that Brown is certainly capable of overcoming.