Ray Smith Signs with Boston College, Faxes Letter of Intent

The Eagles had to go all the way to the left coast to unearth a defensive tackle in this class. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, California) defensive tackle Ray Smith is a dude. The 6-foot-1, 270-pound tackle selected Boston College over claimed offers from Air Force, Bucknell, Harvard, Lafayette, Navy and San Diego State.

Smith has a combination of the two things you would look for in a defensive tackle. He has speed to beat offensive lineman off the snap, and good strength to get past them when needed. He isn't necessarily the size of a standard college defensive tackle yet, but with a little training and weight gain he could fit in well in Don Brown's defensive schemes.

With Connor Wujciak and Truman Gutapfel coming back to fill in at defensive tackle, there won't be a lot of playing time. The interesting question will be whether Mehdi Abdesmad will be granted an additional year. He played in four games last year, but there is the possibility that the NCAA could grant him another year. If that happens I wouldn't expect Smith to be on the two deep this year, and instead would be redshirted.

Here are Smith's highlights via Hudl:

Here are Smith's rankings from the various recruiting services:

• Rivals: Three stars, 40th best defensive tackle
• Scout: Three stars, 103rd best defensive tackle
• 247Sports: Three stars, rated a 84, 77th best defensive tackle, 142nd best California recruit
• ESPN: Three stars, rated a 75, 78th best defensive tackle, 128th best California recruit

Go Eagles!