Boston College Football: Phil Steele Tabs Nine Eagles to All-ACC Teams

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Phil Steele released his 2021 Preseason All-ACC teams and nine Boston College football players were selected, including three first-team picks.

Junior Zay Flowers was named to Phil Steele’s All-ACC first-team as a wide receiver while two offensive linemen were also tabbed to the All-ACC first-team in Alec Lindstrom and Zion Johnson.

Offensive tackle Tyler Vrabel was named to Steele’s All-ACC second-team along with kick returner Travis Levy and punt returner, Jaelen Gill.

Offensive tackle Ben Petrula was named to Steele’s All-ACC third-team while quarterback Phil Jurkovec and punter Grant Carlson were selected to Steele’s All-ACC fourth-team.

Flowers put together one of the best seasons by a BC wide receiver ever in 2020. An All-ACC first-team selection, Flowers was just the second BC wide receiver to be named first-team All-ACC in school history (Alex Amidon, 2012). He finished 18th nationally and second in the ACC with 892 yards receiving, ranked 26^th nationally with 56 receptions, and tied for 12th nationally with nine touchdown receptions.

Lindstrom was just the second Boston College center to garner All-ACC first-team honors last season, joining Andy Gallik (2014). He was one of three players to take all 785 offensive snaps in 2020. He was part of a unit that started all 11 games together and held up for the third-ranked passing attack in the ACC at 284.2 yards per game.

Johnson is coming off a 2020 season in which he was named to the All-ACC third-team at offensive tackle. The Maryland native graded out as BC’s top offensive lineman in 2020 after moving from left guard to left tackle in the preseason. BC’s offensive line ranked No. 21 as a group according to Pro Football Focus last year.

Vrabel was named All-ACC honorable mention for the second time in his career as a sophomore. He moved from left tackle, where he started 13 games in 2019, to right tackle in 2020. Vrabel was one of three players to take all 785 offensive snaps last season as he started all 11 games for the Eagles.

Gill was a starter at wide receiver for the Eagles in 2020 and also led the team in punt returns (8.7 yards per return). In 11 games with seven starts, Gill finished the year with 29 receptions for 435 yards and one touchdown.

Levy returns for his fifth season with the Eagles in 2021. He appeared in 10 games in 2020, making four starts at running back, and was the team’s primary kick returner. He finished the year with 321 yards rushing and 862 all-purpose yards in 2020.

In 2020, Petrula was named to the All-ACC second-team for the second time in his career after earning second-team accolades at offensive tackle. He played 778 of 785 offensive snaps (99.1%) in 2020 and was a key part of an offensive line that allowed just 2.55 sacks per game, which ranked sixth in the ACC.

Jurkovec was the starter in all 10 games he played in at quarterback last year. His 2,558 passing yards over his first 10 starts were the most by any BC quarterback in school history. Jurkovec was the first player in BC history to total four, 300-yard passing games in his first five career starts at quarterback and the first BC quarterback with four or more 300-yard games in a season since Matt Ryan (2007).

The Pittsburgh native finished 26^th nationally with 255.8 passing yards per game and ended the season completing 61 percent of his passes and throwing 18 touchdown passes (30^th nationally). He was second among all Boston College quarterbacks since 1996 with 255.8 yards per game, trailing only Matt Ryan’s 321.9 yards per game in 2007.

Boston College returns 20 starters in 2021. The Eagles open the year on Saturday, Sept. 4 at Alumni Stadium vs. Colgate on ACC Network. Season tickets are now on sale via BCEagles.com.