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CHAPEL HILL — Chazz Surratt’s transformation from starting quarterback to standout linebacker across his five seasons of college football at North Carolina has followed him throughout the NFL’s pre-draft process.
Coaches and front office personnel have inquired repeatedly, asking him to explain his reasons behind the decision, while scouts and analysts have gone about using the unconventional position change for the lens with which to view his plusses and minuses as a prospect.
“They definitely all ask about it,” Surratt said recently. “They already know the story, but they kind of want to hear from me and my side of it. And then they ask me how you think that’s helped you play linebacker, maybe you have a different kind of perspective. Most say that it’s probably helped me a lot, being able to look at quarterbacks or look at formations and stuff and kind of see what’s coming.”
Chazz Surratt works out for NFL scouts and coaches during North Carolina’s pro day activities last month in Chapel Hill.
Times-News
[Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Camarati / UNC athletics]
What’s coming for Surratt in the NFL Draft, which gets under way with Thursday night’s first round, projects to be a selection on the second night of the event. He’s generally regarded as a third-round pick, though some forecasters envision him climbing into the latter part of the second round, and others can see him sinking to the fourth round.
Surratt’s newness at linebacker — he became an All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team choice there for the Tar Heels each of the last two seasons, after struggling with inconsistencies and injuries at quarterback — has been considered a future asset for the long haul and yet a possible liability during the shorter term by NFL evaluators, effectively a potential wild card.
The 24-year-old Surratt figures to be a quick study in the NFL regardless. After all, in 2019, his first season playing linebacker since the ninth grade at East Lincoln High School, he amassed 115 tackles, 14½ tackles for losses and 6½ sacks in 13 games and finished as the runner-up for ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
By the end of last season, he put together a run that included only one missed tackle (in 47 attempts) during his final five games, an area of marked improvement. He topped North Carolina’s defense in tackles for a second season in a row, delivering 91 tackles to go along with six quarterback sacks and 7½ tackles for lost yardage in 11 games.
Across the last two seasons, his 46 quarterback pressures lead all linebackers in this NFL Draft class. Swarming and productive stuff from the converted quarterback, who made eight starts on offense early on in his Tar Heels career.
“I just think the way I prepare for the game is a little bit different,” he said. “A little more ahead mentally, just being able to see stuff on film and break stuff down having that quarterback background. So I think that helps me a ton going forward, because in the NFL everybody’s big fast and strong, but you’ve got to be able to separate yourself mentally.”
North Carolina coach Mack Brown and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman have praised Surratt’s playmaking package of athleticism and instincts as a versatile fit for any defense, whether patrolling the middle at an inside linebacker position or roaming on the outside and unleashing his mobility in space.
Surratt said his favorite NFL linebackers to study are Luke Kuechly, the former Carolina Panthers star, Bobby Wagner of the Seattle Seahawks, and Darius Leonard of the Indianapolis Colts. He met Kuechly at the Senior Bowl, the college all-star game in January, and delighted in a conversation they shared.
“I got to sit down and talk to Luke and pick his brain,” Surratt said, “and he was picking my brain a little bit about football. That was a cool experience for me, just thinking back to players I’ve watched, getting to meet him in person was very cool for me.”
Surratt said since December he has lived and trained in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and approached the NFL auditioning phase with younger brother Sage Surratt, the former Wake Forest receiver, who’s expected to be drafted in the later rounds this weekend.
“Getting to go through the same process and meet with teams, talk to coaches, talk to scouts and having someone there that’s in the same shoes I am, that I rely on and trust,” Chazz said. “It definitely was a good time. I felt like I was back in high school kind of, just being under the same roof with him and working out together again, because we didn’t get that in college.”
The deep threat Brown, 21, is considered a second-day pick, and could land in either the second or third round.
He stands alone as the only receiver in North Carolina program history with two 1,000-yard seasons. He led the ACC with 1,099 receiving yards last year, an output that ranked sixth nationally, and scored eight touchdowns. He was the only unanimous pick on the All-ACC teams last season.
Brown owns two of the top five receiving seasons in Tar Heels history after supplying 1,034 yards in 2019. He compiled 123 catches for 2,306 yards and 21 touchdowns during his three-year college career.
RB MICHAEL CARTER
The speedy Carter, who turns 22 in May, is slotted to be chosen in the third- or fourth-round range.
He became the eighth North Carolina running back to post multiple 1,000-yards seasons, and he did so with an epic performance in the regular-season finale. He rushed for 308 yards as the Tar Heels mauled Miami in December, the fourth-highest total in ACC history and 20 yards shy of Derrick Fenner’s school record.
He racked up 1,245 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last season, with his average of 7.98 yards per carry eclipsing Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice’s school record of 7.2 yards per carry set 74 years prior in 1946.
Carter finished his college career with 3,404 rushing yards, fourth all-time in school history behind only Amos Lawrence, Mike Voight and Leon Johnson. Carter scored 22 career rushing touchdowns. He added 82 catches for 656 receiving yards across the last four seasons.
WR DAZZ NEWSOME
The shifty slot receiver Newsome, who turns 22 in May, is regarded as a third-day selection, predicted to be taken toward the end of the seven-round draft.
He ranks as one of the most productive weapons in school history, checking in third all-time at North Carolina in catches (188), fifth in receiving yards (2,435) and tied for seventh in touchdown catches (18) — despite his numbers suffering a dip from his junior season (team highs of 72 catches and 1,108 yards along with 10 touchdowns) to his senior year (54 catches for 684 yards and six scores).
He led the ACC in punt return average last season, and special teams could serve as a path for Newsome to establish a foothold in the NFL.
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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