These six first-year players could make an impact for UNC football this season

Since coach Mack Brown returned to North Carolina in 2019, quarterback Sam Howell is the only freshman to start his first game as a Tar Heel. Offensive tackle Zach Rice and receiver Andre Greene will have a chance to add to that number this season.

Rice leads the list of six first-year players for Carolina who could earn their way into the rotation and make an impact as freshmen. There’s a common theme among those newcomers: Enrolling in January gave them a prolonged transition period and has them poised to play early.

“If you just think, they’ve been through a semester now — three semesters of college really because you’ve got two in the summer and one in the spring — so they understand going to class,” Brown said. “They’ve been through an offseason program and they’ve also been through a program with your strength staff, but also your nutritionist. So they’ve changed who they are with their bodies. And probably, most importantly, they had 15 days of spring practice with their coach. So they’re so far ahead of the guys that come in and late June or early July.”

Rice, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound native of Lynchburg, Va., was ranked as the top offensive tackle in the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.com. He’s competing with Harvard transfer Spencer Rolland to start at right tackle. Even if he does ultimately lose that competition, he’s assuredly going to be in the offensive line’s rotation.

Offensive line coach Jack Bicknell shaped part of his philosophy during his time in the NFL, where he usually had just seven active players so they all had to learn how to play multiple positions, and Rice has quickly taken to it.

Fifth-year senior guard Ed Montilus said Rice is “naturally, pretty good.”

“You can move him around anywhere — guard, tackle — he just has a little bit more to learn with the technique,” Montilus said. “But I think he’s going to learn it pretty quick because he showed it throughout the spring that he’s coming along pretty quick. I think he’s doing a good job.”

Greene is a bit of an exception. He didn’t enroll early, but the 6-foot-2 1/2 Richmond, Va., native has been turning heads since fall camp started.

With Monday’s announcement that senior Antoine Green will miss six to 10 weeks with a shoulder injury, all of a sudden the Tar Heels are in need of a playmaker. Greene made quite the impression on Green from the opening days of practice.

“Andre, he’s gonna be a dog, he is,” Green told reporters after the second day of practice. He went on to describe Greene as “real physical” and noticed he’s “real intentional with his hands.”

Greene seemed to rise to the occasion when the Heels held an open practice at Kenan Stadium, which included catching a 35-yard pass from Jacolby Criswell with tight coverage from cornerback Lejond Cavazos.

“I was impressed with him,” running back D.J. Jones said. “I got to talk to him a little bit and his confidence is up. He knows what he has to work on and things that he’s good at. He knows where he’s headed, and I think he’s headed in a good direction.”

Running backs George Pettaway and Omarion Hampton seem headed that way too despite competing for playing time in one of the Heels’ deepest positions.

Pettaway is what they like to call “twitchy” with his quickness and ability to evade tacklers. Hampton, who did not enroll early, is physically gifted with a 6-foot, 220-pound frame and 4.4-second speed in the 40-yard dash.

Brown has previously said he’d like to use a three-back rotation this season. After their performances from Saturday’s practice, it appears they’ll both have a chance to be in it.

“I was surprised that they look that good that early, but both of them jumped out,” Brown said.

Greensboro’s own Travis Shaw was one of the most celebrated signings of Brown’s tenure. The five-star defensive lineman was No. 5 overall nationally in 247Sports.com’s Class of 2022 composite rankings. Shaw enrolled in January, but joined arguably the unit that is the deepest on Carolina’s roster.

Sophomore defensive tackle Jahvaree Ritzie said the first thing he noticed about Shaw was his willingness to learn.

“I’ve seen confidence and growth because every day he’s asking questions, every day he’s trying to learn to make himself better and make the people around him better,” Ritzie said. “When coming in as freshmen, it’s tough, because you don’t know what you need to know.”

Linebacker, like receiver, is a position the Heels aren’t as deep as they would like to be. Sophomore Power Echols will play the overwhelming majority of snaps at their “mike” linebacker position, but backing him up is freshman Sebastian Cheeks.

Former defensive coordinator Jay Bateman was instrumental in recruiting Cheeks, a Skokie, Illinois, native whose offers included Notre Dame, Michigan and Michigan State. He enrolled early, too.

“We’re thin at linebacker because we only have five scholarship linebackers and only two have really played,” Brown said. “... But we feel like we’ve got good enough players. What we got to do is be smart and make sure that we coach them the right way.”