Yesterday, the Tar Heels rolled out their depth chart for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. As we laid out for you over the weekend, this is a roster that is pretty depleted due to injuries and opt outs, meaning this is a much different looking group than the one that took the field at the end of last month against NC State. Here is a look at the depth that the Tar Heels will roll with on Wednesday in Charlotte.
Offensively, there are a handful of interesting things to notice. Starting right guard Willie Lampkin has moved into the center that he played last year with Corey Gaynor opting out, meaning that William Barnes will get a chance to start one final time at right guard before his college career is over. With no scholarship tight ends available, walk-on Deems May III will get the opportunity to start, a really cool moment for the son of the former tight end and current member of the radio broadcast team. At wide receiver, Gavin Blackwell will get the chance to start again with Tez Walker heading to the NFL and Kobe Paysour out with another broken foot. Jefferson Boaz being the backup quarterback is also very interesting.
Defensively, there isn’t really anything shocking. As expected, Amare Campbell will get his first career start alongside Power Echols in place of Cedric Gray who is headed to the NFL. In the slot, D.J. Jones will play before heading to the transfer portal and he’ll split time with Kaleb Cost, who may get more reps than him so that the staff can get a legitimate look at him. With injuries and transfer opt outs, guys like Cost, Tre Miller, Ayden Duncanson all appear in the two-deep. Fellow true freshmen Caleb LaVallee and Michael Short also make their first appearances in the two deep. The defensive line two-deep remains the same as the regular season.
The special teams unit doesn’t have many changes to the depth chart, but will have a lot of new faces overall. Chris Culliver is the new kick returner with both George Pettaway and Doc Chapman in the transfer portal. Nate McCollum will return punts for the team with Alijah Huzzie still sidelined with an injury. Cole Maynard, who recently announced that he will be transferring, will be with the team as they’re holder and backup punter.
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