As we settle back in after a hectic month of official visits, it’s time for us to dive into the Tar Heels’ roster for the 2024 season. We start with the position room that might be the key to this team making a bowl game: the quarterbacks.
For the first time since 2018, it feels like the team has a legitimate quarterback battle with three guys possibly having a shot to win the job entering fall camp. The team immediately dipped into the transfer portal back in December to bring in an experienced super senior Max Johnson to compete for the job after solid stints at LSU and Texas A&M. In 22 career starts, Johnson has posted a 12-10 record while throwing for 5,852 yards and boasting a 47-12 touchdown-interception ratio. At the least, he’s a veteran who can provide some capable depth, but there is a legitimate chance he could be the starter when the team takes the field in Minneapolis on August 29th.
His biggest competition is sophomore Conner Harrell, who closed the spring strong while looking to hold onto the starting job. Harrell started the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, completing 18 of his 27 passes for 207 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions and rushing for five yards on 16 carries. While those numbers might not look great, he was under tremendous pressure the entire night behind a compromised offensive line and had to fight through a leg injury suffered in the first quarter to complete the game. He still showcased a strong arm and outstanding mobility, things that stood out again in the spring. He outperformed Johnson in the spring game and has himself positioned to win the starting job if he does the same throughout fall camp.
The wild card is senior Jacolby Criswell, who returned to Chapel Hill earlier this summer out of the transfer portal after a year at Arkansas. It hasn’t been made official that Criswell is competing for the starting job in the fall, but it is noteworthy that he is a guy who was recruited by Mack Brown and has a lot of familiarity with the main skill position contributors on offense. The one thing he does not have familiarity with is Chip Lindsey’s offense meaning there will be a steep learning curve he’ll have to navigate if he’s actually going to have a shot at the starting job.
True freshman Michael Merdinger will provide deeper depth as the other scholarship option for the team after he beat out Tad Hudson in the spring leading to Hudson’s transfer. Merdinger showed some nice promise throughout the spring and capped it off in the spring game where he moved the second and third units down the field with his decisiveness and accuracy in the short and intermediate passing games. He will have the chance to build on that promise that he showed in the spring and give the room a solid foundation for the future.
The room will also contain redshirt freshman DJ Mazzone and true freshmen Ben Bastek, Andrew Miyares and Hudson Wilham as walk-ons.
Projected Depth Chart
QB
#14 Max Johnson, Sr.
#15 Conner Harrell, So.
#12 Jacolby Criswell, Sr.
#17 Michael Merdinger, Fr.
#13 DJ Mazzone, RFr.
#16 Ben Bastek, Fr.
#18 Andrew Miyares Jr., Fr.
#19 Hudson Wilharm, Fr.
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