Top UNC Football players for 2017: No. 8 Thomas Jackson
Keeping It Heel continues its countdown of the top 25 players on the North Carolina Tar Heels roster with player No. 8
#25 Noah Ruggles | #24 Tomon Fox | #23 Jordan Cunningham | #22 Tyler Powell
#21 Brandon Fritts | #20 Jonah Melton | #19 Stanton Truitt | #18 Myles Dorn
#17 Cayson Collins | #16 Michael Carter | #15 Tom Sheldon | #14 JT Cauthen
#13 Aaron Crawford | #12 Johnathon Sutton | #11 Juval Mollette | #10 Jalen Dalton
#9 Donnie Miles
Keeping It Heel is going to continue to count down the weeks until college football season by revealing our list of the top 25 UNC players for the upcoming season.
The college football season kicks off in about eight weeks and it will be here before we know it.
NFL training camp is still almost two weeks away, and everyone could use some gridiron action.
So what better way to get into the football mood than getting a sneak peek at the future of the Tar Heels.
Let’s take a look at player No. 9, a former walk-on who could be a huge part of the Tar Heels passing game this season.
Position: Wide Receiver
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
High School: Charlotte Country Day
Last Season: Jackson had a big season last year. The senior receiver finished with 17 receptions for 186 yards and four touchdowns. He finished with multiple receptions in games four times last year.
Jackson was also a very reliable receiver. He was targeted 18 times last year and caught 17 of them which was good for a 94 percent reception rate.
That was the highest on the Tar Heels last season.
Jackson also did a lot with the receptions he had. Of the 17 catches, 15 of them either went for a first down or a touchdown.
Additionally, Jackson had one catch for 25 yards in the Spring game.
Why he might move up this list: As has mentioned in almost all the wide receiver pieces, the Tar Heels lost their top three receivers this past season.
In fact, his 17 receptions are second on the team in among receivers returning to UNC.
As mentioned earlier Jackson was a reliable and productive receiver last season. With questions at quarterback, a player like that could be valuable to moving the chains for a young team trying to find its way.
If Jackson were to keep up a similar reception percentage with more targets he could be one of the better receivers in the ACC.
Why he might move down this list: Competition. Jackson is the fourth receiver listed on this list, and that doesn’t include Stanton Truitt, who is also a capable receiver.
It may be hard for Jackson to get a ton of reps on the field.
Also, despite catching multiple passes in four games last year, in the other nine, he caught one or zero.
Depending on what the coaching staff runs, Jackson may have limited opportunities because he is called on to do other things, like blocking, that keep him from catching balls.
Prediction: Jackson stood out to me last season. Though he never had a huge game, every time he caught the ball, I noticed. Hopefully the coaching staff did too.
The former walk-on pairs with Austin Proehl to form a deadly short passing game that opens up lanes for the running backs.
Jackson finishes the season with 35 receptions for 545 yards and seven touchdowns.