Keeping It Heel
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Top UNC Football players for 2017: No. 12 Johnathon Sutton

By Brandon Griffin

Nov 25, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels fans cheer during the first half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels fans cheer during the first half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Keeping It Heel continues its countdown of the top 25 players on the North Carolina Tar Heels roster with player No. 12

#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

Keeping It Heel is going to continue to help you countdown 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 12 weeks. Can you believe it?

Sure, there is a lot of drafting going on with several Diamond Heels getting picked and several basketball players probably getting picked next week, but honestly we have reached a dead period in sports, one that could use some gird iron 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. 12, a sophomore linebacker who is making a change to running back this fall.

Position: Running back

Hometown: Swansea, South Carolina

High School: Swansea

Last Season: Last Season, Sutton did nothing. The season before he red-shirted for the Tar Heels. As an inside linebacker he currently sits third on the depth chart behind both Andre Smith and Jonathan Smith.

Why he might move up this list: Based on his previous stats it would seem like there is no reason to be on this list and as an inside linebacker, you would be right.

However, Sutton is making the switch to running back and that increases his value greatly. Not only is he now a two-way player giving the Tar Heels some versatility, he also just became the biggest back on the squad.

At 6-foot-0 and 230-pounds Sutton becomes the bruising back the Tar Heels thought they lost when Hood went pro a season early.

Just to put that in perspective, those are the same dimensions Hood was listed at last season.

The next closest back size wise is incoming freshmen Antwuan Branch, but even he is currently listed at 25 pounds lighter than Sutton.

If Sutton is anything like Hood or even 75 percent like him, he could be in for a big year.

Why he might move down this list: Experience. Sutton hasn’t taken a snap at the college level as a running back. He did play running back early in his high school career before switching fully over to linebacker.

He may be bigger than the other backs, but they were all brought in as running backs, Sutton was brought in as an inside linebacker.

Prediction: The questions are definitely concerning. They also make a prediction harder than with other players. However, UNC needs a big back to really bust inside and open up the edges for their position and skills players.

Sutton should get opportunities to be that back and if the coaching staff feels good about this move, let’s hope it works out. Still being conservative let’s say Sutton runs the 60 times for 200 yards and three scores.

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