North Carolina heads into its second bye week of the season with a roster that looks uneven in some spots and promising in others.
The biggest talking point remains quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., whose performance has become impossible to ignore after the Week 3 loss to Clemson. Edwards Jr. has shown flashes through the first few games, and the Tar Heels’ 2-0 start helped mask some of the issues.
But once defenses settled in, the problems surfaced fast. The Wisconsin transfer has been solid when things are laid out for him, yet his efficiency and production drop when opponents force him off schedule.
Right now, his stock is at its lowest point since arriving in Chapel Hill, and there’s no guarantee it rebounds soon.
If the passing game has been shaky, the ground game has carried a lot of the load. North Carolina has leaned on a three-man backfield that has given the offense real balance. Benjamin Hall, Demon June, and Jaylen McGill are all averaging at least 4.6 yards per carry, with Hall and McGill both over six yards per attempt.
Hall has separated himself as the clear lead back, piling up 215 rushing yards on 33 carries while also adding four catches for 42 yards and two touchdowns in the first three games. June has been a dangerous change-of-pace option and a reliable finisher near the goal line, already scoring four touchdowns this season.
McGill has carved out his own steady role as well. It’s the kind of backfield mix that gives Bobby Petrino plenty of ways to attack defenses.
North Carolina’s best targets in the passing game have been Jelani Thurman and Jordan Shipp. Thurman, the former Ohio State tight end, has 11 receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown through three games.
Shipp has been right behind him with 13 catches for 164 yards. After those two, the production falls off sharply.
CJ Sadler is third on the team with four receptions for 73 yards, and he has only played in two games. The lack of depth in the receiving game is hard to separate from Edwards Jr.’s inconsistency throwing the ball.
Up front, though, the Tar Heels have been much better. The protection has been strong through 2026, even if Edwards Jr. has been sacked seven times. Most of those sacks have come with the quarterback holding the ball too long and not moving through his reads quickly enough.
The run game has benefited from that work in the trenches, with open lanes helping the backs get downhill in a hurry. Bringing in Andrew Threatt and Shaq McRoy through the transfer portal has already paid off.
North Carolina clearly made trench play a priority in the offseason. That showed up on both sides of the ball, including a defensive line that added several under-the-radar transfers. Jaylen Harvey has stepped in and helped fill the gap left by Melkart Abou Jaoude, who has missed the last two games.
Xavier Lewis has been the standout on that front. He has 17 total tackles, including 12 solo stops, and six sacks, with two sacks in each game. The sample is still small, but the pass rush has looked elite even without Abou Jaoude in the lineup.
The Tar Heels also rebuilt their linebacker group after losing essentially the entire room from last season, with Khmori House the biggest departure. Peyton Seelmann and Derek McDonald have looked like strong additions.
Seelmann, the former Richmond linebacker, has 20 total tackles, 14 of them solo. McDonald leads the team with 24 total tackles, including 10 solo.
The secondary had a rough night against Clemson, especially when Bryant Wecso Jr. found space for multiple explosive plays and finished with five catches for 77 yards. Even so, there have been steady contributors back there.
Greg Smith has been one of them. The safety has 16 total tackles, nine solo, along with two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Kaleb Cost has also been dependable, posting 13 total tackles, 10 solo, and one pass defended. There’s still room for that group to grow, but North Carolina has enough pieces there to believe it can improve as the season goes on.
In Other News...
UNC Is Already In An Early Fight For A Massive 5-Star Center
A big man with a growing national market is already drawing plenty of attention, and North Carolina has made sure it is in the mix early. Dylan Betts, a five-star Class of 2028 center and 7-foot-3 prospect at IMG Academy, has taken an unofficial visit to Chapel Hill as part of a recruitment process that is quickly broadening beyond one region or one conference.
UNCs staff has been building a relationship with Betts while schools like Michigan and Illinois have already hosted him, and Alabama is also lined up for a future visit. For the Tar Heels, getting in early matters with a player of that size and ceiling, because the race for elite frontcourt talent tends to move fast once the major programs start pressing their cases. [Read more 🡒]
UNCs New Backcourt Duo Brings More Than Fans Might Expect
North Carolinas newest backcourt pairing arrived with plenty of intrigue during a recent media availability, as transfer guards Angelo Brizzi and Neo Avdalas were introduced to the Tar Heels audience. Brizzi brings a well-traveled resume, but also the kind of reliability UNC needs from a lead guard, having started all 32 games at Buffalo and finished with 14.5 points per game. Avdalas offers a different look entirely, a 6-foot-9 guard whose size and playmaking made him one of the more interesting additions in the ACC last season.
Avdalas started all 31 games at Virginia Tech, averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 assists per game, and earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors twice, which gives UNC a backcourt blend that is both experienced and unconventional. For a program always balancing immediate expectations with roster fit, the bigger question now is how quickly these two transfers can translate their production into chemistry, spacing and decision-making in Chapel Hill. [Read more 🡒]
Belichicks UNC Start Looks Worse As Passed-Over Options Keep Delivering
Bill Belichicks first season at North Carolina has already become a talking point across college football, and not in the way anyone around Chapel Hill would have wanted. As the Tar Heels try to settle in under one of the sports most famous names, the comparison game has only intensified, with other programs taking shape behind coaches who were in the same broader conversation before Belichick landed at UNC.
Those parallel developments matter because the coaches North Carolina did not hire keep stacking up results elsewhere. Jon Sumrall and Jake Dickert, in particular, have continued to build momentum, while Wake Forests early success under Dickert and quarterback Gio Lopez has only sharpened the optics. Even in games with uneven quarterback play, such as Clemsons outing from Tait Reynolds, the broader trend has been hard to miss for UNC fans watching the wider carousel. [Read more 🡒]