UNC Football: Five Most Talented Players

Nov 9, 2013; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams (2) passes the ball in the first quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

3. Marquise Williams, So. Quarterback

True, Williams may not even be the starting quarterback when the season starts.  However, Williams will certainly get his fair share of playing time, and I believe that he will end up getting more playing time than Mitch Trubisky this year.

Williams is a complete quarterback who is dangerous with both his arm and his legs. There may be a blueprint to sucess for Williams, or a player with similar skill sets that he could learn from watching- Johnny Football. Williams and a now famous college quarterback, Johnny Manziel, had similar sophomore seasons.

In their sophomore seasons, Manziel’s 2.9 to 1 touchdown to interception ratio wasn’t all that much better than Williams’ 2.5 to 1 ratio.  Also, Williams actually gained slightly more yards per passing attempt than Manziel (8.6 yards to 8.5).  Williams is no slouch on the ground either, scoring at about the same rate that Manziel did his sophomore season.  When Manziel won the Heisman, he scored a touchdown on 10% of his rushes, and last year Williams scored a touchdown on 9% of his rushing attempts.

Williams may not be as exciting to watch as Manziel, but Williams isn’t a distraction to the team either.  If Williams can continue to mimic Johnny Football’s stats, or at least stay close, then he will have a great junior year for the Heels.