CHAPEL HILL – Asim Richards was the new kid on the block last fall, so to speak. He joined an offensive line that returned four starters, but he was not one of them.
Instead, Richards was replacing Charlie Heck, who moved on from North Carolina to play for the Houston Texans in the NFL. Naturally, that was a tall order for a sophomore who logged only 47 offensive snaps the year before.
But Richards usually held his own. And most importantly, the 730 snaps he played last season gave him tons of film to see the things he did well and what needed more work. So that latter has been a point of emphasis for the 6-foot-4, 325-pounder from Philadelphia since the 2020 campaign concluded.
“What I worked on was being more square because I had a problem with opening up my hips on my pass sets,” Richards said. “And I really had to zero in on not turning and having my hips open too much. So, I think I got a lot better with just staying square with my pass sets.”
His PFF grade for pass blocking was 10 points lower than his run blocking, which wasn’t great, but was at least solid. But to go from virtually no experience to a starter on the No. 5 offense in the nation, which was also the No. 8 scoring unit averaging 41.7 points per game, the guy with the fewest number of game reps might appear a tad behind the others, especially given how UNC’s o-line is one of the most veteran in the nation.
The hip work, however, could change a lot of that. It is also important because the Tar Heels allowed 34 sacks and finished the season ranked No. 100 nationally allowing 2.83 sacks per contest.
So, it has not just been Richards working to improve keeping opposing defenses off Heisman Trophy candidate Sam Howell. The entire unit has made this a priority all offseason.
“We just had a lot to work on,” Richards said. “Staying square, hand placement. And as a unit, we’re closer together now than we were last year because we have another year together. Being together and with that experience, we know what to do and we’re going to protect him.”
The group up front also goes from blocking for NFL running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams to opening holes for a bunch of relative unknowns to UNC fans.
Only Tennessee transfer Ty Chandler has much experience at the college level. He ran for more than 2,000 yards for the Volunteers and amassed more than 3,000 all-purpose yards playing in the SEC. But other than him, whom the o-line has not yet blocked for in an actual game, the rest of the guys in that room are largely inexperienced.
The schemes will be the same, naturally, because the offense has not changed. But Richards says it is even more incumbent on the guys up front to do their jobs so the backs’ full talents can shine.
“We have to make the holes for them,” he said. “They’re going to go how we go. So, we’re going to block to the best of our abilities so we can make it very easy for them to find the holes and get out and go.”
And they can get out and go, Richards says.
“Ty is experienced, but the rest of them don’t have much experience,” he said. “We expect them to struggle a little bit at first, but once they get going, I think they’re gonna be really good backs, honestly. All of them can really run, they’re very talented.”
So, improving his technique in pass protection while keeping defenses off a Heisman candidate and making sure the newbies in the backfield have big enough holes to dart through are all on Richards’ plate.
That is a load, but his self-assuredness suggests he and the others up front can handle it.
