CHAPEL HILL — While taking his own mental inventory during North Carolina’s session of spring football practices, coach Mack Brown found sorting out a possible pecking order for his team’s collection of running backs and receivers to be an ever-changing endeavor.
“Every time I start thinking I’ve got my three or six favorite receivers and my three favorite running backs,” he said, “one of them steps up and surprises me.”
The Tar Heels’ spring game Saturday at Kenan Stadium didn’t provide the clearest picture for assessing the new cast of playmakers who will surround star quarterback Sam Howell when next season arrives, with rain falling throughout the afternoon and receiving targets Beau Corrales (held out as a precaution) and Khafre Brown (sore leg) unavailable due to injury reasons.
But from the deep balls hauled in by Josh Downs (48-yard catch) and Emery Simmons (44-yard catch) to certain runs turned in by transfer Ty Chandler and Josh Henderson, there were moments to appreciate and further evaluate for Mack Brown and the North Carolina coaching staff.
“We really still will have to make sure that we can get the receivers separated for the fall, and the running backs,” Brown said.
Howell, the two-year starter who already is being billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate, played four series Saturday. He hit Downs and Simmons on the big gainers, before finishing 6 of 10 passing for 118 yards and a touchdown on a 13-yard hookup with Antoine Green, a throw Howell zipped past defensive back Dontavius Nash in the corner of the end zone.
Khafre Brown, Corrales, Downs, Green, Simmons and early enrollee freshmen Gavin Blackwell, J.J. Jones and Kobe Paysour are among the group of largely unproven receivers now at Howell’s disposal. The Tar Heels lost 1,715 receiving yards and 13 touchdown catches in the form of Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome, the departed threats from last season’s team that reached the Orange Bowl.
Likewise, North Carolina’s candidates at running back don’t make for a short list, either, though none pack the enormous production generated by standouts Michael Carter and Javonte Williams (2,385 rushing yards and 33 total touchdowns last season).
Chandler, the Tennessee graduate transfer, and D.J. Jones worked as the running backs with Howell and the first-string offense in the spring game. Henderson, Elijah Green, British Brooks and early enrollee freshman Caleb Hood also saw action at the position.
Hood, a converted high school quarterback, topped the running backs Saturday with 35 yards on six carries. Henderson supplied 33 rushing yards on one possession alone, when early enrollee freshman Drake Maye directed his first series at quarterback. Henderson capped that drive by bouncing outside for a 6-yard touchdown run.
Mack Brown said he and running backs coach Larry Porter will “have our hands full” in determining the depth chart there and establishing which backs the Tar Heels will feature most prominently.
Chandler started Saturday’s spring game alongside Howell and Co., and ran for 5 yards on each of his two carries. Chandler played in 46 games and made 25 starts across the last four seasons at Tennessee, where his 3,291 career all-purpose yards rank fifth in school history. He led the Volunteers with 630 rushing yards in 2018 and 655 rushing yards in 2019, before checking in second behind Eric Gray with 456 rushing yards last season.
“It should help us some,” Brown said, referring to the spring game, “because we can’t practice six backs. We’re going to have to get it down to three, probably when we come back and get started in the fall. But it’s a good problem, because they’re all good.”
North Carolina also played the spring game without center Brian Anderson (attended his brother’s wedding) and left guard Joshua Ezeudu (lower body injury), a veteran pair of starters on what will be an experienced offensive line next season.
Downs dropped a pass from Howell on the first play of the rainy afternoon, but Howell said afterward he came away impressed with how his receivers “were able to concentrate in the conditions we had.”
Howell went 1-for-3 in his first two series Saturday and was sacked by linebacker Desmond Evans, before unloading the 48-yard pass over the top to Downs, whose speed proved too much for defensive back Cam’Ron Kelly in coverage. Two plays later, Howell connected with Antoine Green in the corner of the end zone.
“I thought Sam was right on the money,” Brown said. “He came out and did the things he needed to do.”
Simmons’ leaping ability, which emerged in some big moments during the course of last season, was on display for the 44-yard pass from Howell. He went up in a crowd that included Downs and defensive back Obi Egbuna to reel in the catch. Jones finished that possession by scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run.
“I though the receivers did well,” Howell said. “I was kind of surprised they caught some of the balls they did, just because it was raining pretty good out there.”
Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC spring football game offers insight, questions on new cast around star QB Sam Howell
