North Carolina Football: Starting QB job not a given for transfer Brandon Harris
Despite setting multiple visits and picking North Carolina football to finish his career, ex-LSU quarterback Brandon Harris isn’t guaranteed to start.
Last month, Brandon Harris made an announcement that was somehow both surprising and predictable at the same time. The former four-star quarterback from Bossier City, La., announced he had been granted a release from LSU and would be transferring this offseason.
On Sunday, he announced that he had picked his final collegiate destination: North Carolina. Harris chose the Tar Heels over both Texas and Arizona who had also been recruiting him and hoping for a visit.
#LSU QB Brandon Harris who hopes to graduate in June (and thus would then be eligible this fall), says he's transferring to #UNC.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) March 26, 2017
As Bruce Feldman said, all Harris must do is graduate this June in order to be immediately eligible for the Tar Heels in the fall. But one question remains imminent. Will he start?
It might be a silly question because he wouldn’t pick a school to finish his career at if he didn’t believe he was the frontrunner for the starting quarterback job. However, despite the departure of Mitch Trubisky, the Tar Heels have a promising young quarterback in Nathan Elliott — a former three-star dual-threat in the 2015 class.
Elliott was redshirted in 2015 and saw his first action as Trubisky’s backup in 2016. Learning behind a quarterback like Trubisky may have worked wonders for the redshirt freshman, but he completed just 8-of-9 passes for 55 yards.
Surprisingly, Harris didn’t have many statistics to boast about last season for LSU, either. He was benched after the second game of the season, finishing with 139 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, completing 13-of-25 passes. The fact that he was benched for an average quarterback proves he may not be the favorite to start in Chapel Hill.
Related Story: ACC Football: Top 10 players heading into 2017 spring games
Harris was once a highly-touted top-100 recruit, but that was four years ago. He’s not the most accurate passer and he may not even be an effective enough runner to take the job from Elliott.
Despite the need for another quarterback, North Carolina may think twice before handing the reigns to the new transfer.