Boston College Football: AJ Dillon needs some help in 2019

AJ Dillon took a step back, statistics-wise, in 2018 but the Boston College football star could be in for a big season with some added help.

Everyone expect a big rise out of then-sophomore AJ Dillon heading into the 2018 season, but sometimes slumps happen.

Not many running backs can call a 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown season a “slump” but Dillon is that talented. He followed up his stellar freshman season where he accounted for over 1,500 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns with a “down-year” of sorts as a sophomore. Plus, his yards per carry went from 5.3 down to 4.9.

Boston College finished 7-5 and made it to the First Responder Bowl against Boise State which was ultimately canceled. That’s not too bad for a team not really considered a contender in the ACC.

But something seemed off with Dillon. He did miss two games with an injury, so that contributed to his “down” numbers, along with a canceled bowl game — that’s three games which could have accounted for 400-plus yards — but defenses were able to key in on him.

Simply put, Dillon didn’t get much help from the rest of the offense.

Yes, Anthony Brown had a solid sophomore season at quarterback, passing for over 2,100 yards and 20 touchdowns with only nine interceptions, but that’s fairly average at the collegiate level. He led just the 81st-best passing offense in the nation in 2018 and it will need more from him if the rest of the team is going to succeed in 2019 — namely Dillon.

With more production from the quarterback and receivers other than Kobay White stepping up, defenses won’t be able to place all the focus on Dillon, therefore leading to more production from him when called upon. Defenses will have to relax on trying to only stop the run.

Dillon is a serious Heisman contender and Boston College could win 8-9 games in 2019, but everyone will benefit from more help surrounding the star running back. If that happens, we could see him approach 2,000 yards.