Keeping It Heel
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2017 NFL Draft: North Carolina Tar Heels best fits

By Brandon Griffin

Dec 30, 2016; El Paso, TX, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels defensive tackle Nazair Jones (90) pumping his team up before facing the Stanford Cardinal at Sun Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2016; El Paso, TX, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels defensive tackle Nazair Jones (90) pumping his team up before facing the Stanford Cardinal at Sun Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 19, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) looks to pass in the first quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 19, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) looks to pass in the first quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Could this be a first?

Position: Quarterback

Measurements: 6-foot-2 and 1/8, 222 lbs

Last Season: Completed 304 of his 447 pass attempts for 3,748 yards and 30 touchdowns. Also ran 93 times for 308 yards and five touchdowns.

What is needed: Trubisky needs to go to a team that already has an established quarterback in place. This will allow him time to adjust to an NFL playbook, offense, and lifestyle. That is what happened for Aaron Rodgers, a guy Trubisky is often compared to.

This would eliminate teams like the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets who have nothing in place to protect Trubisky next season from starting early.

Best Fits: Los Angeles Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers: The Chargers just moved to Los Angeles from San Diego. They have a stud quarterback in place in Phillip Rivers who threw for 4,386 yards and 33 touchdowns last season. Rivers however, is 35 and entering his 14th season as a starter.

Rivers probably has two more good seasons in him and then Trubisky could take over. The Chargers would likely grab Trubisky with the seventh overall pick, making the QB a top-ten selection.

Arizona Cardinals: Like the Chargers, the Cardinals also have an aging QB. However, unlike Rivers, Carson Palmer has been injured a lot, which could force Trubisky into play early.

On the other hand, since arriving in Arizona, Palmer has played in at least 15 games three of the four seasons he has been a Cardinal. Last year, he passed for 4,233 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Palmer is 37 years old and entering his 15th season as a pro. Like Rivers, he probably only has a season or two left and then Trubisky could step in. Arizona would most likely use the 13th overall pick in the draft to take Trubisky.

Kansas City Chiefs: This pick would be ironic as it was current Chiefs QB, Alex Smith, who was taken ahead of Rodgers. Smith is the youngest of the three starters at 32.

But despite his age, the Chiefs have shown a willingness to move away from the former first round pick for the right player. Last season, Smith threw for 3,502 yards and 15 touchdowns.

The Chiefs would most likely use the 27th overall pick on Trubisky, making the former Tar Heel a late round pick, but still the first round quarterback taken from North Carolina.

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