UNC football program offers Charlotte quarterback Deshawn Purdie

New general manager Michael Lombardi said that the UNC football program would look to bring in a quarterback from the transfer portal. It seems like offers have started to go out.

Deshawn Purdie, a true freshman from UNC-Charlotte, has claimed an offer from the Tar Heels.

Purdie had an uneven freshman season at Charlotte, but it was with a poor team. The 49ers finished the season 5-7 and got their head coach, Biff Poggi, fired with two games left in the season. Former UNC wide receivers coach Tim Brewster finished the season as interim coach. Additionally, Purdie platooned the quarterback position with sophomore Max Brown.

Purdie should be looked at as a developmental quarterback, more than a plug and play type. He has incredible physical tools, particularly a Michael Vick-esque deep ball that comes with a wrist flick versus a big windup. He could give North Carolina the deep threat it has lacked all season with Jacolby Criswell.

Work will be needed with accuracy though. For the season, Purdie completed exactly 50% of his passes, and only had 10 touchdowns against six interceptions. He's also not much of a running threat, only rushing 41 times for negative 130 yards, though his 24 sacks taken make that stat worse than it seems.

His best game of the season was in a win at Florida Atlantic. He had three touchdowns and one bad interception, and went 16/30 passing with 396 yards.

Purdie has also already played in Kenan Stadium, as he spelled Max Brown in the second half. Brown was more accurate, but couldn't get the 49ers in the end zone. Purdie had two touchdown passes.

The tools are intriguing, but development will be the name of the game. It doesn't look like a sucker's bet, though. SEC schools are sniffing around, and Purdie already claims offers from Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi State. Could Bill Belichick put Purdie in the Patriot hotbox and turn him into a top-tier ACC quarterback? Who knows? He does have the tools to do it.