UNC Football: 2020 Tar Heels’ commit earns praise at All-American Bowl

A UNC Football recruit in the 2020 class earned some big praise at practices for the All-American Bowl this past week

Mack Brown and his coaching staff have put together a heck of a recruiting class in 2020 for the North Carolina Tar Heels. They signed what is a top 20 class in December during the Early Signing Period and UNC fans should be excited.

One of the top recruits in that class is four-star wide receiver Josh Downs. The receiver committed to North Carolina in February of 2019 picking them over in-state N.C State. Penn State also showed interest in Downs but the recruit officially signed his letter of intent back in December with the Tar Heels.

On Saturday, Downs will participate in the All-American Bowl on NBC which features some of the best high school football players across the country.

But before the game kicks off, Downs was already earning some high praise at practice.

247 Sports football recruiting analyst Barton Simmons wrote on some recruits during the practice sessions on Thursday and mentioned Downs as the “Alpha Dog”. Here is what he wrote on Downs:

"This day wasn’t any different than any other day for North Carolina signee Josh Downs. But like every other day, he just continues to get open. Whether it is in the flats as an underneath receiver or with deeper breaking routes, Downs is just constantly open. He’s particularly dangerous when working across the middle of the field, with his speed proving too much for the East defensive backs. The Atlanta area native also showed sure hands throughout the day and we didn’t see many if any drops. He’s been as steady of a performer all week as it gets."

That’s some high praise for the 5-foot-10, 165-pound receiver. For him to be called the alpha dog and receive that praise from a national recruiting analyst is good news for the Tar Heels.

Downs will join a UNC roster that just went 7-6 after winning two games in each of the previous seasons and even beat a pretty good Temple team for their first bowl win since 2013. The Tar Heels have a legit roster and should return most of their offensive starters plus add in some talented players like Downs next season.

It could be a fun year to watch and the freshman could have a big impact.

For more on Downs and other UNC Football recruits, please check back with Keeping It Heel.