The one Boston Herald pre-ACC Kickoff story filed last week focused on Luke Kuechly's weight gain:
"I think if you put it on the right way, it shouldn't be a problem, and that's what I've tried to do," said Kuechly yesterday at BC. "I wanted to get the weight on, but I want to make sure I can run. I think where I am right now, I don't want to put any more on. (Defensive coordinator Bill McGovern) has always told me ‘If you can run, I don't care how much weight you put on. You just have to be able to run.'
"If I get into camp and it's a bit much, I'll cut it down a couple of pounds."
Kuechly stepped onto campus two years ago weighing just 217 pounds. He bulked up to 225 for his sophomore season and is now officially listed at 237 in the 2011 preseason media guide. But Kuechly is far from the bigger gainer on the program this season.
Using weights listed from the 2010 and 2011 media guides, the biggest gainer on the Eagles 2011 two-deep is ... Kaleb Ramsey.
Ramsey added an extra 28 pounds to the starting defensive tackle's frame. I hope that's an extra 28 pounds of muscle, because if it is, good lord! I think we'll all rest a little easier about the Eagles' defensive front four this season.
Here are the top 10 gainers listed on the two-deep (weight gain, 2011 weight-2010 weight in parenthesis):
1. DT* Kaleb Ramsey -- 28 (302-274)
2. DT Dominic Appiah -- 26 (286-260)
3. LT Aaron Kramer -- 21 (296-275)
4. QB Josh Bordner -- 19 (224-205)
5. LT* John Wetzel -- 16 (302-286)
6. SLB Andre Lawrence -- 14 (224-210)
6. SS Dominique Williams -- 14 (209-195)
8. DT* Dillon Quinn -- 13 (292-279)
9. MLB* Luke Kuechly -- 12 (237-225)
10. DE* Max Holloway -- 11 (253-242)
10. SLB* Nick Clancy -- 11 (237-226)
* indicates a starter
Happy to see four of the ten big gainers on the defensive line. As a unit, the four starters on the D-Line are up 27 pounds this fall, weighing in at a combined 1,096 (the Albright-Scafe-Ramsey-Newman front four weighed in at 1,069 a year ago).
On the flip side are the biggest losers year-over-year. Boston College holder and backup punter Gerald Levano is down 26 pounds this season to a svelte 188. Here's the list of the top ten biggest losers from this year's two-deep:
1. H Gerald Levano -- -26 (188-214)
2. C Andy Gallik -- -21 (284-305)
3. LG Bobby Vardaro -- -19 (301-320)
4. C* Mark Spinney -- -10 (282-292)
4. SLB* Steele Divitto -- -10 (225-235)
6. FS Sean Sylvia -- -9 (196-205)
7. SS* Dominick LeGrande -- -7 (211-218)
8. TE* Lars Anderson -- -7 (236-243)
9. WLB* Kevin Pierre-Louis -- -3 (212-215)
9. P* Ryan Quigley -- -3 (188-191)
Interesting to see three members of the offensive line listed in the top five here. Overall, the five starters on the line are down 48 pounds, from 1,531 to 1,483.