Keeping It Heel
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Top UNC Football players for 2018: No. 15 Thomas Jackson

By Brandon Griffin

CHAPEL HILL, NC - SEPTEMBER 02: Thomas Jackson #48 of the North Carolina Tar Heels stretches across the goal line for a touchdown as Derron Brown #4 of the California Golden Bears defends during their game at Kenan Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. CFal won 35-30. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - SEPTEMBER 02: Thomas Jackson #48 of the North Carolina Tar Heels stretches across the goal line for a touchdown as Derron Brown #4 of the California Golden Bears defends during their game at Kenan Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. CFal won 35-30. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Keeping It Heel continues its countdown of the top 25 players on the North Carolina Tar Heels football roster with player No. 15

#25 Dyami Brown | #24 Johnathon Sutton | #23 Matthew Flint | #22 JT Cauthen | #21 Offensive Line | #20 Freeman Jones | # 19 Myles Wolfolk | #18 Beau Corrales | # 17 Carl Tucker | #16 Aaron Crawford

The college football season kicks off in about three months, and it will be here before we know it.

NFL teams are right in the middle of OTAs as they get looks at some of their new players including former Tar Heels M.J. Stewart, Austin Proehl, and Andre Smith. With football on our minds, we decided to take a look at the upcoming season for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Let’s take a look at player No. 15, a wide receiver who is returning to the team following a season-ending injury.

Position: Wide Receiver

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

High School: Charlotte Country Day

Last Season: Following a 2016 season that saw him finish with 17 receptions for 186 yards and four touchdowns, Jackson was expected to take on a bigger role last season after three of the Tar Heels’ top receivers graduated.

Jackson started off strong, but an injury against Old Dominion ended his season after just three games. Jackson finished the year with seven receptions for 97 yards and two scores.

Why he might move up this list: Jackson has a knack for getting in the end zone. Jackson scored a touchdown in two of his three games last season. He also had multiple receptions in two of those three games including a four-catch effort in the Tar Heels’ loss to Louisville.

Last season, I ranked the receiver eighth overall and expected him to be a reliable target for whoever the Tar Heels placed under center. If healthy, he should live up to those expectations this season.

Why he might move down this list: Competition. As with all the receivers on this list, Anthony Ratliff-Williams excluded, there are a lot of guys looking for playing time this season. Jackson may lose out in a numbers game this season.

It also doesn’t help as he is coming back from a knee injury and may not be able to do the things he was used to doing right away, which could allow another player to move up ahead of him on the depth chart.

Prediction: As I mentioned earlier, I was expecting a huge season from Jackson last year. His injury was just one of many that had 22 Tar Heels sitting out the season finale against NC State.

Though maybe not the biggest, it did have an impact on a young offense that could’ve used an experienced, reliable target, particularly after Proehl was injured for part of the season as well.

I believe that Jackson will return from his injury renewed and finish the season with 35 receptions for 545 yards and eight touchdowns.

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