If there’s one area the North Carolina Tar Heels will be particularly thin at next football season, it’s defensive line.
UNC currently has seniors Des Evans, Jahvaree Ritzie and Jacolbe Cowan, plus graduate students Kevin Hester and Joshua Harris. Kaimon Rucker, a star edge rusher for North Carolina, is also a senior.
To address this future hole, the Tar Heels made a smart move on Monday, December 9 when the transfer portal officially opened.
UNC offered in-state defensive lineman Kahmari Brown, who just wrapped up his freshman season at Elon University. Brown finished second on the Phoenix with 4.5 sacks and nine tackles, helping them to a 6-6 record.
If Brown chose to continue his career as a Tar Heel, he’d only be playing 45 minutes away from Elon. Brown is also a North Carolina native, hailing from Jacksonville, where he won All-Conference honors each season from 2021-2023.
Though UNC’s defense continued allowing opponents to walk all over them, it was able to generate a significant increase in pressure under new defensive coordinator Geoff Collins.
https://twitter.com/marty2cut/status/1866126133604794818
Ritzie was one of the Tar Heels’ greatest early-season surprises, recording five sacks in his first two games. Ritzie, Amare Campbell and Beau Atkinson all generated 6.5 sacks apiece, while Rucker (six), Evans (five) and Hester (3.5) also recorded multiple sacks.
As mentioned before, North Carolina won’t have a lot of returners on its defensive line in 2025. I also imagine Brown isn’t the only defensive lineman UNC targets in the portal, but he would be a great get early in the transfer portal process.
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