CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina got its 2021 season started Thursday morning with a spirited and involved practice at Koman Practice Complex.
The Tar Heels packed an awful lot into two hours, of which the media was welcomed in to view in its entirety. THI was on hand and has the following observations from Carolina’s workout:
*If you missed the practice report posted Thursday afternoon, check it out, as we went into depth chart detail from what we saw during the first practice.
*Last season, outside linebacker Des Evans looked like the true freshman he was when on the field. Not that Evans didn’t make some plays, he did, but the point here is how he looked physically. Thursday, he was far more filled out and looked every bit the part of a Power 5 defensive terror.
Evans worked out mostly with the OLBs, but he also got some reps with the defensive line. He was the third “hybrid” guy in the rotation, but expect Evans to play a lot of football this fall, and his potential is off the charts.
*If there is a group on the team that should concern UNC fans in case of an injury to a starter its inside linebacker. Jeremiah Gemmel and Eugene Asante are a very good tandem, but after that there’s Cedric Gray, Power Echols, and RaRa Dillworth. The latter two are true freshmen and Gray played just eight snaps on defense last fall.
Gray appeared bigger and more ready to go than a year ago, but Dillworth (205 pounds) and Echols looked like true freshmen. They are extremely gifted and certainly smart, so the trio should come along well, but an injury to either starter, especially early in the season, could be a problem for the Heels.
*If there is a group that was off-the-charts impressive Thursday it was the defensive line. I counted ten dudes who are absolute dudes. At least they look the part. Ray Vohasek, Tomari Fox, and Myles Murphy were with the ones, and rightfully so. But Jahvaree Ritzie, who impressed a ton in the spring, was once again easy to watch. He’s going to be really good.
Keeshawn Silver was hampered by a bum ankle in the spring, so we didn’t get to see him at 100 percent, but we did Thursday, and he’s going to help this football team. It might be in a somewhat distant role down the pecking order, but most teams in the nation would love to have someone like Silver as their sixth or seventh defensive lineman.
Even in the back end of the group, which appeared to be Clyde Pinder, Kristian Varner, and Kevin Hester, though don’t take too much from rotations in the first practice, the Tar Heels have plenty of potential. Pinder was a 4-star guy, Hester just started playing the sport a few years ago and drew a ton of praise from Mack Brown in the spring, and Varner showed plenty of progress in the spring, too.
I asked Mack a couple of questions about this group in the post-practice presser, and you’ll like what he had to say. Check it out.
*Kedrick Bingley-Jones missed last season with an injury, but by the time we finally saw him during spring practice he got huge, as in enormous. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, he clearly looks it, but in a very healthy way. KBJ was a highly touted kid coming in, and based on this one viewing, it appears he’s catching up.
*Ty Chandler is the lone true veteran in the running backs room and he sure did look like it Thursday. This isn’t a knock against the other guys in the backfield, not at all, because D.J. Jones was the clear number two back and looked good. So did true freshman Caleb Hood and junior Josh Henderson. But Chandler picked up some rushers in pass protection and just carried himself like a been-there, done-that guys because he has.
*True freshman Trevion Stephenson was just a 2-star prospect in high school, but he told our Deana King he would outwork everyone once he got to Chapel Hill, and he arrived this summer. Stephenson jumped out at me to where for a brief moment I thought he was Kaimon Rucker. Rucker, the sophomore who was the surprise of last year’s freshman class, wears number 25 and Stephenson wears number 26.
Rucker is 6-foot-1, 260 while Stephenson is 6-foot-4 and 240, so why did was it easy to confuse them? Because Stephenson looked quicker than expected and bigger than expected. Some freshmen simply don’t look the part yet, but he clearly did, and he looked good in his drills, too.
*Finally, and I’m not going to address every position group, but we can’t conclude this without noting the quarterbacks. Sam is Sam, and his leadership in a few instances Thursday was awfully impressive. Jacolby Criswell did some nice things but also appeared to be a bit tight and was maybe pressing a bit. He didn’t look as smooth or effective as Drake Maye, who threw the best balls of the day.
One pass down the left sideline to Justin Olson that went about 45 yards and was well defended was an absolute beauty. Maye looked outstanding on short throws over the middle and wide, always leading the receivers, and he hit a few more downfield, sometimes putting the ball in the only spot the receiver could catch it.
Now, let’s not get too amped up over Maye, he has not won the backup job yet, but some chirping suggests he could be on his way to securing that role perhaps sooner rather than later. But we will see. He looked really good Thursday and Criswell has looked better. But maybe that will change Friday, though we won’t know because the media is not allowed to watch.
So, he was impressive, but take it for what it’s worth.
