Boston College’s 2026 fall camp hasn’t even opened to the media yet, and the pressure points are already pretty clear. Before the Eagles hit the field Wednesday, there are six players who have the most to gain - or lose - once camp starts sorting out the depth chart.
On offense, one of the biggest names to watch is running back Turbo MacCormack. Bill O’Brien went out and landed former Liberty back Evan Dickens, and Dickens is expected to handle most of the work in the backfield. That leaves MacCormack in position to be the next man up, and maybe more than that if he makes the kind of jump the staff is looking for in year two.
MacCormack, a true sophomore from Buckingham Browne & Nichols, looks like the clear favorite to back up Dickens, with a chance to split carries at some point. But Boston College has other options waiting behind him, including Maryland transfer Nolan Ray and freshman Sedric Addison, so there’s real competition if MacCormack doesn’t deliver.
Last season, MacCormack played in nine games and finished with 15 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown. He also added 124 kick return yards on seven attempts, with a long of 23 yards. With a bigger role in the run game this fall, his special-teams work figures to drop off, though camp should start to show exactly how that balance shakes out.
At receiver, Reid Swanson is another player with plenty to prove. The former Colgate Raider stood out as one of the top wideouts during spring practices, though Jaedn Skeete and Dawson Pough were out with injuries at the time. Even so, Swanson’s size - 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds - gives Mason McKenzie a legitimate target on the outside, especially in the deep game and in the red zone.
The challenge for Swanson is obvious: the leap from the Patriot League to the ACC is a big one. He has the tools to push for a starting job in a role similar to Reed Harris in 2025, but nothing is being handed to him. Camp is where he has to earn it.
McKenzie, meanwhile, enters camp with the most to prove of the group simply because the job is his. The reigning Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year brings the kind of dual-threat ability O’Brien clearly wanted when he went into the transfer portal.
Still, there are questions. McKenzie is just over six feet tall, which leaves size as one possible concern.
He also threw 11 interceptions last season and owns a career completion rate of 58 percent. That’s not a deal-breaker, but it is the kind of thing O’Brien and quarterbacks coach Jonathan DiBiaso will want to sharpen up quickly.
Defensively, defensive end Noah Jones is the name that jumps out. A blue-chip recruit coming out of high school, Jones spent two seasons at Georgia before transferring this winter, but he was mostly a reserve and saw a lot of action only in lopsided games. Now he gets a fresh start in his third year of college football, and the opportunity to finally become the player he was projected to be.
Jones checks in at 6 feet 2 inches and 245 pounds, a build that looks a lot like former BC edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku, now a starter for the Dallas Cowboys. Boston College needed someone to step into that edge role after Ezeiruaku was drafted last spring, and Jones looks like he could be that kind of fit.
In the safety room, it’s junior transfer Donovan Upton who could force his way into the picture. Right now, he sits behind Preseason All-ACC selection KP Price and redshirt junior Carter Davis, two of the most experienced players on the roster. But the staff likes Upton a lot, and if he takes advantage of camp, he could work his way into the rotation as often as Davis.
Upton appeared in nine games last year on special teams and as a reserve safety, posting 17 tackles and one tackle for loss. Against UConn, he had a career-high six tackles. He arrived as a top-20 recruit in New Jersey and a top-50 safety nationally, so the upside has always been there.
The last player on the list is defensive tackle Amedee, who has a story that’s easy to root for. Like MacCormack, he showed real promise early before injury cut things short. Through five games, including one start, he recorded five tackles, one sack and one quarterback hit before a season-ending injury ended his year.
Amedee still has work to do physically, but there’s a real path for him to become the kind of interior presence Boston College needs to help stop the run. That was an issue for the Eagles in 2025, and his development could matter more than ever. It also adds a nice layer to the story that a local recruit from Xaverian Brothers is trying to make his mark for his home-state program.
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