North Carolina Football: Projected 2-deep depth chart for 2017
North Carolina football enters the 2017 season with plenty of question marks, but will the Tar Heels exceed expectations?
Entering his sixth season as head coach of North Carolina football, Larry Fedora has done an excellent job for a program that had been widely known as a “basketball school.”
North Carolina has gone 40-25 over the last five years under the head coach and even sent Mitch Trubisky to the NFL via the first round in 2017. He was one of the top quarterbacks chosen and looked every bit the part of an NFL starter in his preseason debut with the Bears.
The Tar Heels are coming off an 8-5 season in which you can bet Fedora would dub it a disappointment. They had the talent to be a 10-win team, but fell short of expectations despite having Trubisky to rely upon. Heck, they may have relied too heavily upon the strong-armed quarterback.
Now that he’s gone on to bigger and better things, expectations may dip a little for the Tar Heels entering the 2017 season, but this team is not one to overlook.
Offensive Line
Starting tackles: Bentley Spain (LT), William Sweet (RT)
Backups: Mason Veal (LT), Charlie Heck (RT)
Bentley Spain is back for his senior year as the starting left tackle and there’s plenty of talk about him being one of the top two, or three, tackles in the league. Heck, he will be an All-ACC performer by season’s end and earn some NFL draft recognition. William Sweet is entering his sophomore year but the coaching staff is high on him at right tackle. Mason Veal and Charlie Heck project as the backups.
Starting guards: Tommy Hatton (LG), R.J. Prince (RG)
Backups: Nick Polino (LG), Charlie Heck (RG)
Tommy Hatton and R.J. Prince are both returning starters to the Tar Heels’ offensive line and both will be formidable on the interior of the offensive line.
The Tar Heels suffered a tough loss at backup right guard, though. USC grad transfer Khaliel Rodgers announced earlier this offseason that he’d be retiring from football, leaving an open spot at No. 2 right guard. I wouldn’t be surprised if a tackle moved over to backup the guard spot to avoid a major hole in the rotation — such as Heck. Nick Polino will back up the left guard position.
Starting center: Cameron Dillard
Backup: Jay-Jay McCargo
Cameron Dillard is a Florida-transfer, proving that Fedora isn’t afraid to go out in the transfer market and land some top linemen. He’s considered to be one of the best centers in the ACC and will start instantly in 2017 as a senior. He will be backed up by starting center in-waiting Jay-Jay McCargo, a talented freshman.