The offensive coordinator Lindsey incorporates tight ends heavily into her game plan. Carolina’s tight ends hauled in 71 passes for 1,034 yards and nine scores last season. Only two teams in the country had tight ends that were ranked in the top five in each category, including UNC. One of the top tight end position coaches in the nation is Freddie Kitchens, who also serves as the run game coordinator and tight ends coach. Carolina’s tight ends put up incredible numbers in just one season despite a quality core of wide receivers and numerous injuries.
It will be interesting to see if this production can be repeated without Drake Maye this season.
Before the Mayo Bowl in December of last year, Michael McKay did a great job of breaking down the value of the tight ends to the Carolina offense. The synopsis of his analysis is as follows: This season, there’s a chance the tight ends will get more targets due to concerns about the quarterback. The tight ends might act as the new quarterback’s safety blanket in the early going of the season, so this is very possible.
Fortunately, Carolina’s under center will have two seasoned targets at his disposal.
This season, UNC’s top two tight ends from 2023 will be back, and hopefully their injury problems are behind them.
Bryson Nesbit was named to the First team of the ACC last season after catching 41 catches for 585 yards and five scores. On the squad, he had the second-most receiving touchdowns.
Nesbit tore his left knee meniscus against Campbell in November. Nesbit was the next week’In the opening offensive drive of Carolina’s season against South Carolina, John Copenhaver suffered a broken right hand. Throughout the season, he was wearing a hand or club brace. After offseason surgery, Copenhaver’s hand was left with a plate and seven screws.
Copenhaver had to contend with a stress fracture in his right foot in addition to an injury to his right shoulder during the previous season.
Despite missing spring workouts, both of these guys participated fully throughout training camp. There’s cause for cautious optimism regarding the offense this season because of these two targets.
The fascinating part comes after Nesbit and Copenhaver. Jake Johnson is the presumed number three tight end. When compared to other transfers, the Texas A&M player has the most collegiate experience.Son of UNC icon Deems May, Deems May III, made his college debut in the Mayo Bowl the previous year. Last year, he made appearances in three more games. He caught one pass from Campbell for twelve yards.
Cal Tierney, the Furman transfer who did not play in 2022, made one appearance in a game the previous season.
In 2023, Cort Halsey and Julien Randolph were both considered true freshmen. While Randolph was sidelined by an injury throughout the season, Halsey made two appearances.
With the two new freshmen, Carolina’s tight end room is fully stocked. This is advantageous in the event of an injury, but given the current state of collegiate athletics, playing time can become an issue as the season goes on. Hopefully,
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