ACC Transfer Portal Breakdown: North Carolina
As SMU football nears its first season competing in the ACC, On the Pony Express will break down the transfer classes of every team in the conference.
The series continues with North Carolina, currently ranked No. 8 out of 17 teams in the ACC. The Tar Heels have 20 players leaving and eight coming in.
That gives UNC an Index Score of 8 in the On3’s Team Transfer Portal Index.
UNC Transfer Class Breakdown
The biggest thing that catches your eye regarding the UNC portal class is that it includes a pair of quarterbacks from the same high school class. Both Jacolby Criswell (Arkansas) and Max Johnson (Texas A&M) came out in 2020.
It’s a return to Chapel Hill for Criswell who started at UNC as the No. 20 quarterback in the nation while Johnson started at LSU as the No. 22 QB in the same class before going to A&M last year. Both will battle to replace the No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye.
UNC does add another A&M transfer in former former No. 1 tight end Jake Johnson.
The defense gets its biggest boost in defensive lineman Joshua Harris from Ole Miss. There are solid additions in safety Jakeen Harris (NC State), offensive linemen Austin Blaske (Georgia) and Howard Sampson (UNT) and running back Darwin Barlow (USC).
Top Offensive Transfer: TE Jake Johnson
In retrospect this could be either Criswell or Max Johnson, but without the benefit of hindsight and knowing who will win the UNC starting job, the four-star tight end Johnson will have to do.
And yes, Jake is Max’s younger brother.
Johnson caught 24 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns a season ago. That put him sixth on the team in receptions and seventh in yards while tying for second in touchdowns.
Whoever gets the starting nod under center will benefit from having Johnson at the end of the line of scrimmage as an extra blocker or an extra receiving threat.
Top Defensive Transfer: DL Joshua Harris
Harris has played in 51 games between four seasons at NC State and last year at Ole Miss. At 6-foot-4, 325 pounds Harris is a big body in the middle of the defensive line.
He had 13 tackles last season and 60 for his career.
A defensive tackle that can take on double teams and alter the pocket can make an entire defense better. That’s what UNC believes it has in Harris.
Key Losses
The biggest loss, both figuratively and literally, is Diego Pounds. The 6-foot-7, 330-pound offensive tackle is headed to Ole Miss following two seasons at UNC.
Former four-star receivers Andre Green Jr. and Tychaun Chapman, running back George Pettaway, cornerbacks Tayon Holloway and Lejond Cavazos and defensive lineman Kedrick Bingley-Jones are all also out the door.
The loss of tight end Kamari Morales is lessened by what UNC brought in.
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