Fedora: QB Pecking Order Could Include Ratliff-Williams

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora said Wednesday he isn’t sure who be the primary backup to presumed starting quarterback Nathan Elliott when the Tar Heels visit Syracuse on Saturday.

Fedora met with the media following practice at Kenan Stadium, and among the topics was who would take snaps at quarterback in case Elliott goes down with an injury. With Chazz Surratt out for the season and Cade Fortin likely out for the season, the options have slimmed down quite a bit, and now include the Tar Heels’ most dynamic wide receiver.

“We haven’t made a decision, yet,” Fedora replied, when asked specifically if Ruder is the quarterback if Elliott goes down.

As for the options?

“We have Nathan Elliott, we have Jace Ruder, and we have Manny Miles and we have Anthony Ratliff,” the coach answered.

Ruder is a 6-2, 220-pound true freshman from Norton, KS, who was a 4-star prospect in high school and hasn’t yet played in a game. Ruder was also an all-state basketball player and state champion sprinter. His skill set is considerable and the ceiling for his potential is significant.

The well-roundedness of Ruder as an athlete is what first grabbed Fedora’s attention.

“I would say the thing that jumped out what his athleticism, that’s it, because he did all those things, he played multiple sports and excelled in all of them,” the coach said. “And he was a great leader in his school. And you’ve seen that as he’s gotten here. You’ve seen his maturity, how he handles things, how he interacts with his teammates and how he handles all those other freshmen. I think as he develops he’s going to be a really good player.”

Miles is a senior walk-on and son of former LSU head coach Les Miles. He’s played quarterback very late in two lopsided games but has been UNC’s holder the last two years and has a pair of two-point conversion passes to his credit.

Ratliff-Williams led the Tar Heels in receiving last season and was one of the top kickoff returners in the nation. He’s one of UNC’s leaders in receptions and receiving yards again this fall, too.

Fedora said Ratliff-Williams might get some reps this week, which isn’t entirely a stretch given UNC’s situation with just two scholarship quarterbacks available. After all, Ratliff-Williams was recruited to Carolina as a 3-star quarterback.

So naturally, it begs the question if he has occasionally taken some snaps just in case and aside from when running the wildcat, which he’s done a few times in games.

“Oh yeah, he’ll always jump back there,” Fedora said, smiling. “He loves getting back there.”

An early enrollee in January of 2015, Ratliff-Williams played quarterback during UNC’s spring scrimmage at Rocky River High School outside of Charlotte that March but was moved to wide receiver not long after fall camp started the following August.

In a very Fedoraesque way, the coach says he doesn’t remember anything about Ratliff-Williams playing quarterback that day, but did at least give an answer when asked what he liked about Ratliff-Williams when he recruited him as a quarterback.

“His athleticism, he can run,” he said. “He can run. Y’all can see him run. We knew he could play multiple positions for us.”

At this time, Elliott is expected to start.