Less than a week after extending him an offer, the Tar Heels landed a commitment from 2025 3✮ IOL Byron Nelson.
Nelson, the No. 74 interior offensive lineman in the class according to 247Sports Composite player rankings, announced via social media earlier this afternoon that he is committing to UNC over Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh, the other two teams that he named in his final three on Wednesday. He took his official visit to Chapel Hill over the weekend which is where the staff offered him and immediately became the favorite to land his commitment.
Nelson may be ranked outside of the top 1000 prospects overall, but there are some promising elements of his game that show up on his film. He may play tackle at the high school, but the way that he simply mauls guys in the running game and his limited lateral movement, he definitely is a fit on the inside. He plays with a mean streak that is needed to play on the interior and that physicality results in a lot of pancake blocks or complete wash outs of defensive linemen or linebackers in his gap. Pass protection will be the question mark with him going up against bigger and much more physical interior offensive linemen, but there is potential there, especially with how good his hand placement is. There is also some nice versatility there for him, as he’s played both left and right tackle at the high school level, meaning he won't be out of sorts if they have to play him at either guard spot. It may take some time for him to adjust to the college level and be ready to pass protect, but don’t let the rating fool you into thinking he doesn’t have the potential to be a contributor along the offensive line at some point in his career.
With the commitment, the Tar Heels’ 2025 recruiting class now sits at 37th overall and 8th in the ACC rankings according to 247Sports Composite rankings.