Interesting Takes: Crawford & Ratliff-Williams

CHARLOTTE – North Carolina players Aaron Crawford and Anthony Ratliff-Williams had an awful lot of interesting things to say Wednesday at the ACC Kickoff, though not everything was enough for a larger separate article.

So we decided to work through what the junior defensive tackle and wide receiver/kick returner, respectively, said that our readers might find interesting.

Here are those quotes:

On the linebacker situation and its unproven depth…

“We feel like we overworked the linebackers last year. We need to build more depth on that level.”

On the offensive line…

“I really like Will Barnes. I think he’ll have the opportunity to help us if he continues to stay on the path that he’s on. I don’t know where he’ll be able to fit in, because I think Charlie has been anchored for our o-line, especially the last year with all the rotations that happened throughout.”

On what UNC does regarding monitoring the impact players’ heads receive, this was before Fedora’s comments that generated national attention…

“One thing that they do do, is once we get there they concussion protocol, which I think is pretty standard. They put us through some testing to make sure the majority of the guys have censors in their helmets they (medical staff) can monitor. They’re putting precautions in place.”

Asked if the attention N.C. State’s defensive line got last season and then during the NFL draft fuels himself and the rest of UNC’s front line, Crawford replied…

“Obviously, we hear it, but I’ll sit up here and talk to you guys, but after we leave here, I try to pay as little attention to – no disrespect to what you guys say – just because, at the end of the day we still have to go out there and perform. And I don’t listen to the good or the bad because it keeps me level-headed.”

Which Tar Heel would Crawford want to get into a fight with the least?

“I’d probably say Charlie Heck because of the reach. That’s the only reason. I’d have to get in kind of close to have any affect on him. Yeah, definitely Charlie.”

What can the Tar Heels do on defense to force more turnovers?

“Focusing on tracking angles, really attacking the ball, every time the ball’s in the air we expect to come down with it on the back end. Up front, stopping the run, it all leads up to being in our gap, holding double teams so backers can flow across, and really disrupting plays up front.”

Wide receivers can work on a lot of things to improve their hands, route running, cutting, timing, exploding off the snap, etc. But what can kick returners do in the offseason to get better?

“Tape. Watching tape, watching film. Watching breakdowns on the (mistakes) I made because I remember every kick return – every time I watch I remember them like they were yesterday, and I just watch it over and over again to make sure that when that moment happens again, which they do, those moments are going to reoccur, I’m just ready for it, prepared for it. When you see it, you’ve seen it coming.”

Back in the spring, Ratliff-Williams said he was going to get a look at returning punts, so now that camp is less than two weeks away, is that still the plan?

“Still, yeah definitely, most definitely. We’re definitely competing, just go out there and compete. There can only be one returner.”

Even with Brandon Fritts out perhaps for the season, and at least for likely up to 8 games, that group is still very deep and gifted beginning with Carl Tucker. How much does having such a good group help complement the wide receivers?

“That does wonders for the receiver group, to have that outlet of who can catch the ball with their size or who’s that physical because (defenses) have to account for it. If (defenses) can’t account for it (they) can’t account for the other three guys who can do the same thing but are faster. So, they definitely help every single day. They work with us and work as hard as we do.”

When Ratliff-Williams looks back to last season, does he evaluate the team’s season recognizing the injuries as a major factor or does he disregard it and see 3-9 as 3-9?

“Of course you know that (injuries) plays a factor, but there’s no excuse. You’ve got to line up and play football and you’ve got to put 11 guys on the field no matter what. And when we put 11 on the field we didn’t execute as we should have. We understand that, we learned from it watching tape. You don’t want to dwell on it, but we know what happened so we’re not going to forget about it, that’s why the chip’s on our shoulder now.”