Boston College Football: Defensive Tackle Max Ricci Leaves Program

The Eagles' already thin defensive line just got a bit thinner.

The Heights' Austin Tedesco is reporting that junior defensive tackle Max Ricci has left the Boston College football team; news later confirmed by the school. The 6-foot-4, 302 pound tackle from Groton, Mass. has played in each of the Eagles' last 24 games, making six starts and registering 26 career tackles.

Ricci becomes the third player to leave this spring, following running back Deuce Finch and wide receiver Johnathan Coleman, who will not return for his fifth year.

The Eagles defensive line was a disaster in 2012. A few years removed from ranking among the nation's best at stopping the run, Boston College ranked 113th in rushing defense last season, surrendering an average of 213.25 yards a game on the ground. BC barely generated any pressure on opposing signal callers either, averaging 1/2 sack a game in 2012 -- good for dead last in the nation (124 of 124).

Ricci's departure leaves an already thin D line that much thinner. Dominic Appiah and Kieran Borcich are the heirs apparent at the starting tackle positions, but new DC Don Brown will also need to get solid contributions from freshmen Tevin Montgomery and Truman Gutapfel if he has any hope of turning things around up front.

The Eagles do not yet have a commitment from a defensive tackle in the 2014 recruiting class. Of the offers out there for defensive tackles, there aren't any obvious players where a commitment is imminent, though BC is probably in good shape at this point with South Pointe (Rock Hill, SC) DT Zeek Rodney.