UNC Football: Four Tar Heels ranked among ACC Top 25

ESPN recently released a list of their Top 25 ACC players heading into the 2020 college football season. How many Tar Heels made the list?

The 2020 college football season kickoffs this week, and the ACC is scheduled to begin its conference-based regular-season schedule.

In anticipation for the start of the season, ESPN recently released their rankings for the ACC’s Top 25 players for the upcoming campaign. To no surprise, the Tar Heels are nicely represented on the rankings list.

According to ESPN’s rankings, Mack Brown’s squad features four of the top 25 players in the conference. They also have two of the top 10 ranked players, according to Andrea Adelson and David Hale, the ESPN writers who conducted the rankings.

Here’s where some of your favorite Tar Heels rank among the list. Along with their ranking, we’ve included what ESPN had to say regarding each individual player:

4. Sam Howell, Quarterback

"Howell entered North Carolina last year with outsized expectations and delivered, throwing for 3,641 yards while setting the FBS true freshman record and UNC school record with 38 touchdown passes. He also was the ACC Rookie of the Year. He is one of the biggest reasons the Tar Heels enter the season ranked with hopes for an ACC championship game appearance."

6. Chazz Surratt, Linebacker

"It’s still hard to believe that Surratt has officially played only one full season as a linebacker, given everything he accomplished a year ago. Surratt was runner-up for ACC Defensive Player of the Year after racking up 115 tackles, leading the team with 15 tackles for loss and adding 31 total pressures. Coach Mack Brown said the Tar Heels plan to use Surratt in a variety of ways this season, including as a rush end."

19. Dyami Brown, Wide Receiver

"The most physical threat among North Carolina’s deep corps of receivers, Brown finished last year as one of the league’s top big-play targets. As a sophomore, Brown finished fifth in the ACC in yards (1,034) and second in TDs (12) while averaging an ACC-best 20.27 yards per catch. Only Iowa State’s Tarique Milton averaged more among receivers who’ll play in 2020."

22. Dazz Newsome, Wide Receiver

"The other half of UNC’s twin 1,000-yard receivers from 2019, Newsome is the smaller of the two but plays big. Newsome had 66 catches, 980 yards and 9 TDs from the slot last year — all ranking second in the ACC — and his catch rate of 69% ranks fifth among returning ACC receivers."

There are high expectations surrounding the 2020 Tar Heels Football program. They fully expect to make a run at a ACC Championship bid, and will rely on the guys ranked on this list (among many others) to help them reach their full potential this season.

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team for all the latest news and updates regarding the UNC Football program.