After choosing not to release a depth chart prior to the game against Minnesota, the Tar Heels released their first official depth chart for the 2024 season on Monday. Here is a breakdown of each position room and what stuck out to us.
Quarterback
There is nothing shocking here, especially after the injury to Max Johnson that will keep him out for the remainder of the season. Expect Conner Harrell to be the starter for the foreseeable future barring an injury or extremely poor play that would bring Jacolby Criswell into the mix.
Running Back
The notable thing here is that it doesn’t appear like Darwin Barlow has the stranglehold on the backup running back spot as it seemed like he did when the team exited spring camp. True freshman Davion Gause appears to have made another jump in fall camp and has a good chance to receive snaps this season, especially if Caleb Hood continues to deal with injuries which is what he is already doing as they start the season. We could learn a lot more about the pecking here over the next few weeks.
Wide Receiver
This is the position room that has the most surprises. The biggest surprise, which we saw when the game started on Thursday night, is that Christian Hamilton is starting opposite J.J. Jones after it was thought that it was going to be Gavin Blackwell or Chris Culliver. This is a great sign for the future of Hamilton, who played 39 snaps at the wide receiver spot in this opener. Culliver still looks to be solidly in the mix on the outside after playing 11 snaps in the opener, as does Paul Billups II, who is listed as the primary backup to Jones. The most shocking thing is that Blackwell is listed as the receiver behind Hamilton, which basically means he is not even thought of as a part of the rotation.
Tight End
This is exactly what we thought this room would look like. Copenhaver and Nesbit will take the bulk of the snaps, but there is a role for Jake Johnson in this room, as he showed in the opener.
Offensive Line
There isn’t much that is surprising here after the opener, but it is worth noting that true freshman Aidan Banfield did start the game at left guard and played 57 snaps despite dealing with an ankle injury. Zach Rice also remains pretty far down the depth chart despite reports in the spring that he was starting to progress a little bit.
Defensive Line
The interior of the unit is as expected, but there were certainly some noteworthy things about the edge rusher spots. The staff clearly thinks that Des Evans is still ahead of where Beau Atkinson is at this point despite Atkinson being raved about in both camps. The snap differential in the opener also backs this up. The other surprise is that Malaki Hamrick is nowhere to be found at the rush end position after he appeared to have a good spring. Instead, Tyler Thompson and Jaybron Harvey have jumped him to provide the depth there.
Linebacker
This room is really as expected after the opener. Power Echols and Amare Campbell are the starters with Caleb LaVallee as the primary backup. The most interesting thing to note here is that true freshman Ashton Woods is listed as the backup to Campbell meaning he would be the next linebacker that is closest to playing significant reps.
Defensive Backs
This room shaped up exactly how we thought it would in the heading into last week. Alijah Huzzie and Marcus Allen will play a ton of reps on the outside with Tyrane Stewart as the primary backup. Ty Adams is the next in line to get snaps out there. In the nickel, it’s Kaleb Cost who will take nearly every snap with Tre Miller and Ty White providing depth. At safety, Jakeen Harris and Stick Lane are the starters with Will Hardy and DeAndre Boykins ready to provide depth.
Special Teams
The only thing that is shocking here is that Chris Culliver doesn’t appear anywhere on the two deep amongst the kick returners. He was very impactful in that role in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and it seemed logical that he would be involved and maybe even start there this year. Instead, it will be Nate McCollum handling that role with Darwin Barlow as his backup.
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