Top UNC Football players for 2017: No. 4 M.J. Stewart

Keeping It Heel continues its countdown of the top 25 players on the North Carolina Tar Heels roster with player No. 4

#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 | #8 Thomas Jackson | #7 Brandon Harris | #6 Bentley Spain

#5 Cole Holcomb

Keeping It Heel continues to count down the weeks until college football season by revealing our list of the top 25 UNC players for the upcoming season.

NFL training camp has begun, and the Hall of Fame game has already been played, with TJ Logan looking legit before going down with an injury.

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. 4, a senior corner who has been a huge part of North Carolina’s shut down pass defense that last few seasons.

Position: Cornerback

Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

High School: Yorktown

Last Season: Stewart was one-half of a UNC duo that shut down opposing teams passing offenses. The Tar Heels finished 14th in the nation and first in the ACC in passing yards allowed per game.

This was also no fluke as the team finished 26th nationally the year before. Stewart finished the season with 66 tackles, three and a half for loss, and 11 passes deflected, best on the team.

MJ Stewart’s best game came against Pittsburgh. In that comeback win, Stewart finished with 13 tackles as the Tar Heel defense held Pitt to 140 passing yards.

Why he might move up this list: Playing in his final season, Stewart is already appearing on draft boards. Todd McShay recently ranked Stewart as the second-best corner prospect heading into this season.

Stewart had no picks last year, so adding a few this season would only raise his stock up even further as he has already shown quality lock down skills.

Why he might move down this list: The other half of that shutdown duo has graduated. Stewart shared the field the past two seasons with Des Lawrence who was recently placed on IR by the Detroit Lions.

Lawrence finished last season with 37 tackles and eight pass deflections. The rest of the corners finished with 34 tackles and two passes deflected combined.

Stewart was clearly the best corner UNC had last season, but will he still look as dominant with a less dominant presence on the other side?

Additionally, his numbers may drop as teams target the other side way more often.

Prediction: Stewart is getting early draft hype for a reason. He is a legit shut down corner and he should continue to provide UNC with stellar coverage on whichever receiver he covers, which in most cases should be the teams best.

The senior corner finishes the season with 15 pass breakups, 55 tackles, and adds five interceptions for the UNC Tar Heels.