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 Draft Scout College Football Player News: North Carolina
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  09/20/21 - *Josh Downs, Jr/2023, North Carolina, 5-09, 171 (DS#5 WR) + More +

  SEPT 20 ACC RECEIVER OF THE WEEK: Josh Downs, North Carolina, So., WR, Suwanee, Ga.,...Led the Tar Heels with six catches for 203 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the 59-39 win over Virginia ... The 203 receiving yards stand as the eighth most in single-game program history ... Became the first Tar Heel since 2011 to catch a touchdown pass in each of the first three games of a season. - Atlantic Coast Conference Football

(DS#5 WR) Jr/2023 WR *Josh Downs, North Carolina
News Source: Atlantic Coast Conference Football
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  09/20/21 - Ty Chandler, rSr/2022, North Carolina, 5-11, 203 (DS#15 RB) + More +

  SEPT 20 ACC RUNNING BACK OF THE WEEK: Ty Chandler, North Carolina, Gr., RB, Nashville, Tenn.,...Rushed for a career-high 198 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in the 59-39 win over Virginia ... Ranks third among ACC rushers with 107.3 yards per game through three contests ... In addition to touchdown runs of 5 and 7 yards versus the Cavaliers, helped set the tone for the second half with a 60-yard run on the second play from scrimmage. - Atlantic Coast Conference Football

(DS#15 RB) rSr/2022 RB Ty Chandler, North Carolina
News Source: Atlantic Coast Conference Football
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  09/19/21 - Sam Howell, Jr/2022, North Carolina, 6-1, 224 (DS#5 QB) + More +

  Sam Howell threw five touchdown passes and ran for a career-best 112 yards as No. 21 North Carolina took over after halftime to beat Virginia 59-39 on Saturday night. The Tar Heels (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored touchdowns on all five of their second-half drives, which helped turn a 28-24 halftime deficit into a 52-31 lead on Howell's short TD throw to Kamari Morales with 12:13 left. And after a first-half shootout with Brennan Armstrong and the Cavaliers (2-1, 0-1), UNC gave up only a field goal in the third quarter while also coming up with Ja'Qurious Conley's interception. That was more than enough help for the Tar Heels' offense, which kept ending drives with with end-zone celebrations to speed back out in front after squandering a 24-7 first-half lead. And there were no shortage of offensive stars.

Tennessee graduate transfer Ty Chandler ran for a career-high 198 yards with two touchdowns, the last coming from 7 yards out with 2:57 left to seal it. And Josh Downs had eight catches for 203 yards and a pair of TDs. Perhaps more impressively, the Tar Heels showed a different dimension by leaning on their ground game instead of putting everything on Howell's arm. The result? The Tar Heels ran 47 times for 392 yards compared to just 21 pass attempts for their star quarterback, and finished with 699 total yards. It was UNC's biggest scoring output against Virginia since 1936 in the long-running series and second-most ever. - North Carolina/AP College Football

(DS#5 QB) Jr/2022 QB Sam Howell, North Carolina
News Source: North Carolina/AP College Football
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  09/12/21 - Sam Howell, Jr/2022, North Carolina, 6-1, 224 (DS#5 QB) + More +

  Sam Howell's reputation has largely been built on what he does throwing the football for No. 24 North Carolina. His footwork carrying the ball drew most of the attention Saturday night. Howell scored on two rushes to go with three touchdown throws as the Tar Heels beat Georgia State 59-17, shaking off the disappointment of an opening-game defeat. "I definitely think I have a lot of value in the running game," said Howell, a junior who's the school record-holder for touchdown passes. The most notable run was a career-long 62-yarder for a TD in the waning seconds of the third quarter. "I was real tired," Howell said. "When I was running, I was thinking, ‘Someone hasn't caught me from behind yet?' " Everyone seemed to notice. Coach Mack Brown said the staff needed to have oxygen ready for Howell on the sideline "because he had never run so far." Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott wasn't as amused. "Some of his runs there, he didn't do anything spectacular," Elliott said. "We're just not containing." Howell played a role in five of the Tar Heels' first seven touchdowns.

He completed 21 of 29 passes for 352 yards without an interception. He was picked off three times in a 17-10 setback at Virginia Tech in the team's opener a week earlier. "(It can be) a reality check," Howell said. "Go back to work and that's what we did. … We were able to come out there in the second half and play Carolina football." Howell was the game's leading rusher with 104 yards on 11 carries. His 22-yard scramble produced the game's first points. Georgia State (0-2) was held to 90 passing yards. Quarterback Cornelious Brown IV was12 for 26 for 68 yards. North Carolina's lead was 24-10 midway through the third quarter, before the Tar Heels (1-1) used a 28-point burst in about 9 1/2 minutes. - North Carolina/AP College Football

(DS#5 QB) Jr/2022 QB Sam Howell, North Carolina
News Source: North Carolina/AP College Football
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  08/30/21 - Caleb Hood, rSr/2026, North Carolina, 6-0, 220 (DS#999 RB) + More +

  North Carolina freshman running back Caleb Hood is not one of those high school quarterbacks who was asked and begrudgingly made a position switch once he started college. Quite the contrary: Hood hated playing quarterback, even though he was a four-year starter at Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham. He only did it because his dad asked him to - once - on his little league team. The change, oddly enough, launched another career as well. Jakolbe Baldwin was at quarterback and he moved to wide receiver, the position he now plays for N.C. State. Hood was at running back, and he moved to quarterback.

"We weren't very effective at receiver at that time, and then we put Jakolbe there and he fell into place," said Errol Hood, who coached his son's 12-year old team. "We put Caleb at quarterback, he fell into place and put another guy running back, he fell into place. We became the No. 1 one team in North Carolina and from that point, Caleb never went back to running back." It almost didn't happen with the Tar Heels either. Errol Hood was recruited by UNC coach Mack Brown in the mid 90s and sat out as a redshirt during Brown's final season before he took the job at Texas. Errol Hood also starred at quarterback in high school before becoming a defensive back for Heels from 1998-2001. Caleb Hood, who was being recruited as an athlete, initially figured he'd duplicate his father's path by becoming a defensive back when he reached Chapel Hill. But Errol Hood challenged his son's thought process. - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#999 RB) rSr/2026 RB Caleb Hood, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  08/22/21 - Tomon Fox, rSr/2022, North Carolina, 6-2, 253 (DS#35 OLB) + More +

  North Carolina linebacker Tomon Fox has heard most of the stories of Lawrence Taylor's undergraduate days in Chapel Hill, including the one about him allegedly throwing a vending machines off a sixth floor balcony. Most of those tales are wild; some of them may even be true. None of them take away from how dominant he was on the field. And to be clear, when Fox says he wants to emulate Taylor, that's not the part he's talking about. Fox is currently tied with Taylor on the Tar Heels' career sack list with 21, fifth overall. Greg Ellis, who had 32.5 sacks from 1994-97 is the current leader. He's followed by Julius Peppers, who had 30.5 sacks; and Marcus Jones and Quinton Coples, who are tied for third with 24. "It's a great honor just to be mentioned with him," Fox said. "He changed the game of football, the defensive side of football, singlehandedly. I want to be able to have that same kind of impact that he had."

That's the part UNC coach Mack Brown is trying to get Fox to truly understand: the impact. Brown has been stressing the need for Carolina to get quarterback sacks and pressure from its front four without always having to bring extra bodies or blitzing. Fox could be a game changer in that respect. But most of the Tar Heels don't go tracking down footage of players - even Hall of Famers like Taylor - whose careers ended before they were born. "We've tried to help him (understand), I'm not sure he does even though Lawrence is a first-round pick and his picture, it's huge in our locker room," Brown said. "When he breaks that record, I hope it's soon, we'll have Lawrence call him and talk to him. We're actually going to show him some L.T. video from Carolina and from the NFL between now and the Virginia Tech game." - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#35 OLB) rSr/2022 OLB Tomon Fox, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  08/17/21 - Ty Chandler, rSr/2022, North Carolina, 5-11, 203 (DS#15 RB) + More +

  If North Carolina receiver Emery Simmons' observation of running back Ty Chandler is correct, the Tar Heels' will be in for a special season offensively. Chandler is the graduate transfer from Tennessee that UNC coach Mack Brown brought in specifically to make up for the lack of veteran talent in the backfield. Michael Carter and Javonte Williams posted 1,000-yard rushing seasons a year ago on their way to the NFL. Simmons labeled Chandler, "very quiet" and "soft-spoken." But it's the comparison that raised eyebrows. "He kind of reminds me of Javonte," Simmons said. "He's just quiet. He keeps his head down. He works. And that's it."

Williams transformed himself from strictly a short-yardage back into a prolific runner who gained 1,140 yards last season and led the Heels with 22 touchdowns, 19 of which came on the ground. If Chandler can have anywhere close to the kind of production that helped Williams get picked 35th overall in the 2021 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, the Heels should have a good shot at reaching all of the goals they've set this season. - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#15 RB) rSr/2022 RB Ty Chandler, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  08/17/21 - Sam Howell, Jr/2022, North Carolina, 6-1, 224 (DS#5 QB) + More +

  The USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll ranked North Carolina No. 9 in its preseason football Top 25 poll released on Tuesday. It marked the highest preseason ranking since the the Tar Heels were ranked seventh to start the last season of coach Mack Brown's first tenure in Chapel Hill in 1997. Alabama was the overwhelming pick for No. 1, receiving 63 of 65 votes. Oklahoma, which was ranked No. 3, received the other two first place votes. Clemson (No. 2) and Miami (No. 16) were the only other ACC teams ranked. UNC will travel to play at No. 7 Notre Dame, which, along with the Hurricanes, is the only scheduled game against a team ranked in the poll.

News of the ranking didn't evoke much of a reaction from the Tar Heel players who spoke with the media in Tuesday's scheduled interviews after practice. "I know we have the talent to be in the top 10, I know we should be in the top 10 or higher," junior receiver Emery Simmons said. "We've got so many non-believers who don't believe in us that we should be there. It's like an 'if' factor with us. As a team we know there's an 'if' factor with other people on like social media so we're just trying to keep our head down and work." Brown has repeatedly stated that his team didn't know how to handle being ranked No. 5 last season and it showed in their loss at Florida State. But junior safety Giovanni Biggers said the Heels were better equipped to handle the expectations for this season. - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#5 QB) Jr/2022 QB Sam Howell, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  Garrett Walston's transformation into the rubber band man just might rejuvenate his NFL draft hopes and the tight end's role in the Tar Heels' passing game. Walston wanted to become a better blocker and route runner, and to do that he needed to increase his flexibility and agility. He took a very specific request into the office of strength and conditioning coach Brian Hess after spring practices to ask for a plan. Not just any plan, mind you. He wanted something that would incorporate a lot of the elements that would make him a complete player, like flexibility to help him get lower for run blocking. "I need a full plan on ankle mobility, hip mobility, running mobility, and I don't want it to be some one-page thing, I want it to be in depth," Walston told Hess. "I want it to take like 30 minutes to do, so they created me a personalized plan. And I went out to Wal-Mart and bought about every stretching ban and thick yoga mats so my knees could be supported."

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Wilmington native has stuck to the plan ever since. He breaks out those resistance bands and yoga mat and goes through his routine, no matter how tired he is, before going to sleep at night. He also does it before and after lifting weights. UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo has already noticed the difference from the spring drills to the start of fall camp. Longo said Walston has "the best hands on the team." "He's done such a tremendous job of developing his body physically," Longo said. "Hess and those guys have a plan for him. He's attacked the plan. He's much more of a physical specimen than he was before. So he I think he's a lot more than competent in the box now that makes him the true dual-threat tight end that we all would hope to recruit every year." - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#51 TE) rSr/2022 TE Garrett Walston, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  A panel of 147 media members picked North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell as the ACC's preseason Player of the Year on Tuesday. If that indeed comes to fruition, the 6-foot-1 junior quarterback would be the first time a Carolina player took the ACC's highest individual honor since Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor won the award in an eight-team league back in 1980. Joining Howell on the preseason All-ACC team were offensive lineman Josh Ezeudu and cornerback Tony Grimes. The Tar Heels haven't had three players make the All-ACC team since winning their lone Coastal Division title in 2015. Ezeudu, a 6-foot-4, 325-pound junior, is regarded as Carolina's most versatile offensive lineman. He started all 10 games that he played in last season, splitting time at both left guard and right tackle. Ezeudu was named All-ACC second team last season by the Associated Press. - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#13 OG) rJr/2022 OG Joshua Ezeudu, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  07/25/21 - Sam Howell, Jr/2022, North Carolina, 6-1, 224 (DS#5 QB) + More +

  Good luck getting a rise out of North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell. The likelihood of it being his final season in Chapel Hill before being drafted in the NFL doesn't do it for him. He's never publicly declared he won't return for a senior season. Potentially making a six-figure salary this year thanks to the passage of college athletes being able to profit from their name, image and likeness doesn't quicken his pulse either. He siphoned that off to a marketing firm to handle for him with an emphasis on opportunities for the entire team to make money. Howell barely raises an eyebrow despite having his name thrown around in Heisman Trophy conversations. Part of the reason UNC isn't conducting a huge campaign for him is because Howell isn't interested in them doing so. "There are a lot of distractions, so what I've been trying to do is make sure I have people in place around me to kind of limit those distractions so when the season starts I can focus 100 percent on my team," Howell said at Wednesday's ACC Kickoff. "… I just want as much weight lifted off my shoulders as possible so I can really focus on football."

Those outside things almost seem boring to Howell, who spoke in such a low tone during his time on a dais it caused reporters to sometimes cut off his answers because they thought he was finished speaking. The one change UNC coach Mack Brown has noticed? Howell's body language when he's asked to give up some reps to the backup quarterbacks. "He's disappointed when we take him out," Brown said. "He's so competitive he wants to stay in there, but I told him, 'You're leaving, we've got to get a quarterback ready." - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#5 QB) Jr/2022 QB Sam Howell, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  07/23/21 - Sam Howell, Jr/2022, North Carolina, 6-1, 224 (DS#5 QB) + More +

  The unofficial Sam Howell campaign for the Heisman Trophy kicks off Wednesday in Charlotte at the ACC's annual two-day media event, where the North Carolina quarterback will be as much the center of attention as any other player or even new commissioner Jim Phillips. To bolster Howell's candidacy for the award - Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler is the betting favorite, but Howell's right there with him - the university has prepared a massive publicity campaign consisting of: almost nothing. No posters, no notebooks, no billboards, no bobbleheads, no gifts, no gimmicks. If Howell wins the Heisman, he'll do it on his own. Which is exactly how both the quarterback and Mack Brown want it.

"Just as we did with Ricky Williams at Texas, we consider this a team award," Brown said earlier this month. "If we do well, Sam will do well." There are two subtle messages buried within that absence of messaging, one about Howell and one about the Tar Heels. Just as Howell has signed with an agent to handle any endorsement deals but has yet to actually sign any, a Heisman publicity campaign isn't really his style. Despite being the focus of the team for two seasons and a national star going into his third, he hasn't exactly embraced the public spotlight, although he certainly hasn't shied away either. He's done most of his talking on the field. The same will be said of his Heisman candidacy. There's nothing surprising or unusual about that. If anything, the Tar Heels' low-key approach to Howell's award chances says more about them. - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#5 QB) Jr/2022 QB Sam Howell, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  After an impressive junior season, UNC Football standout Jeremiah Gemmel has been named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list. Over the past two seasons, linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel has been a standout performer for the UNC football program. Heading into his senior season, the Newnan, GA native is starting to receive some national recognition. On Monday, the Maxwell Football Club announced their watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award. Gemmel was among the 90 defensive players to earn placement on this year's list.

Since 1995, the Chuck Bednarik Award has honored the College Defensive Player of the Year. The Award is in honor of Bednarik, who was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame as well as the NFL Hall of Fame. Over the past two seasons, Gemmel has been an integral part of Mack Brown's defense. The veteran linebacker has started all 25 games over that span, and was also named as a team captain prior to the start of his junior season. - Keeping It Heel

(DS#22 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Jeremiah Gemmel, North Carolina
News Source: Keeping It Heel
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  04/26/21 - Ty Chandler, rSr/2022, North Carolina, 5-11, 203 (DS#15 RB) + More +

  The Tar Heels lost two 1,000-yard running backs in Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, who will both be hearing their names called in this week's NFL draft. They also lost their top two ball catchers in 1,000-yard receiver Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome, who led the team in receptions in 2019. The Heels were so young at running back that coach Mack Brown sought a graduate transfer in Ty Chandler, from Tennessee. Brown's philosophy with transfers is to only take a starter, so Chandler will have the first crack at solidifying the starting spot. But as the Heels showed with Carter and Williams, there are plenty of carries to go around. The battle to be in the rotation will be competitive and likely carry into fall camp. - Raleigh News Observer

(DS#15 RB) rSr/2022 RB Ty Chandler, North Carolina
News Source: Raleigh News Observer
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  Despite losing Chazz Surratt to the NFL, this group is still loaded with players that have gotten stronger, smarter and more explosive in the off-season. There are currently 17 linebackers on the roster but this article will focus on the top nine that will most likely see playing time this coming season. The two incoming freshmen, Raneiria 'Rara' Dillworth and Power Echols, will not be part of that group barring an unforeseen circumstance. It is not a reflection of their talent but just that they need more time to develop physically. At the middle linebacker position, we will begin with the two most likely starters. They are Jeremiah Gemmel and Eugene Asante. Gemmel is the quarterback of the defense who was a team captain in 2020. He had 78 tackles, six tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one interception and a forced fumble. Asante has primarily been a special teams ace during his career at Carolina earning the respect of his teammates and coaches. - Keeping It Heel

(DS#22 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Jeremiah Gemmel, North Carolina
News Source: Keeping It Heel
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