North Carolina opens fall camp Monday evening in preparation for the 2024 football season that formally begins August 29 at Minnesota, and it does so with plenty of storylines on both sides of the ball.

The most important on defense, however, is along the front line, a position that has talent and enough depth, but has underperformed in recent seasons. Here, we explore five things to watch over the next month:

Kevin Hester played 411 snaps last season and has logged 1,297 for his career and Jahvaree Ritzie was in for 389 plays a year ago and 1,329 for his career. They are experienced returning players who have had very positive stretches. Joshua Harris came over after a year at Ole Miss, which followed several at NC State, but played just 136 snaps for the Rebels last season and has 542 in his career. Travis Shaw, a former 5-star prospect, has played 289 snaps, with 133 coming last season. The word on him this offseason is that the light with him has finally gone on.

That’s Carolina’s interior experience. But redshirt freshmen Rodney Lora and Joel Starlings surprised the staff with their improvement in the spring, and both are candidates at getting into the rotation in some capacity.

At end, the Heels are deep and in very good shape with Des Evans and Beau Atkinson. But the focus here is the interior line. The young ones and Harris must give the unit something, and Shaw must play several notches above previous performances. So, camp will be interesting seeing this unit and hearing what is said about them.

Kaleb Cost spent the spring as a reserve on UNC’s baseball team only taking part in a few football practices. Then, he was injured toward the latter end of the season. The word in Chapel Hill is he is the likely starter at star, but with so much depth in the secondary, and DeAndre Boykins back after missing last season, there could be a battle to watch.

Boykins ended spring practice at safety, but the door was left open he could return to star. He would give the Heels a physical and athletic presence there, and memories of him as one of UNC’s more consistent defenders two seasons suggest he’s a nice option. It also indicates that if Cost or redshirt freshmen Ty Adams and Tre Miller are deemed by the staff equal to what Boykins delivered, the secondary is even deeper than it appears on paper.

The optimistic view here is there are enough options that UNC should be in good shape. The not-so-optimistic view is Boykins hasn’t fully recovered, and the other three have very little experience, not to mention Cost coming off a baseball injury.

Any time the safety position came up late in spring practice, descriptions of it being deep and talented were constants. And it appears that way on the surface. But in truth, how deep is it?

Will Hardy has played 569 snaps in two seasons but was banged up last fall and in the spring. Stick Lane took a while transitioning from Geogia State to UNC, and has logged 2,552 snaps in his career, including 409 a year ago. And while NC State transfer Jakeen Harris has played 1,833 snaps in his career, he was in for five a year ago before being injured, and he’s never worn Carolina blue in an actual game.

Whether or not this unit is super deep depends on if Boykins is at the back of the defense or at star. He was a safety when spring practice ended, and given that he played 931 snaps in 2022, that would qualify safety as a very deep group.

If he ends up mostly at star, the rest of the support at safety comprise young guys Malcolm Ziglar and Jalon Thompson.

Sophomore linebacker Amare Campbell certainly looks the part. He is sculpted like a linebacker, and he will start this season alongside Power Echols in the middle of Carolina’s defense. But how ready is he?

He played 128 snaps last season, but 58 came in the bowl game against West Virginia, and 28 came against FCS member Campbell. He was okay dealing with the Mountaineers, with the greatest value for him that day the experience and film he spent the last seven months devouring.

So, is Campbell ready for a massive role? How he’s portrayed this spring should be an interesting storyline to follow.

The time is now for former 5-star defensive tackle Travis Shaw to make a hard push toward his potential, and if he does, it will change the level Carolina’s group up front will reach.

He played only 133 snaps last season after logging 156 as a true freshman in 2022. He is literally in the middle of his college career, so now is the time for Shaw to make

The coaching staff tells Shaw he can play for a long time in the NFL, but many boxes must be checked for him to get there. Publicly and privately, people around the program say Shaw has made many needed changes steering him in that direction. The on-field part will be revealed over the next few months.

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