With the transfer portal opening Jan. 2, all eyes will be on North Carolina as it looks to improve its roster and fill the holes left by more than two dozen players — most notably linebacker Khmori House and defensive end Tyler Thompson — who have already declared their intention to enter the transfer portal.
While Carolina isn’t the only team dealing with this, and while most of the players who have entered weren’t game-changing, the Tar Heels have to hit on the portal after too many whiffs last time around, which ultimately led to a 4-8 record, their worst season since 2018.
The good news is the Tar Heels brought in 39 freshmen, more than enough to fill out a roster. However, you can’t rely on a bunch of freshmen to win you games, especially with the way things are nowadays, with the transfer portal allowing you to bring in veteran players. Moreover, there will be more movement as we approach the official transfer portal period.
With that being said, let’s look at the biggest needs on the defensive side of the ball.
Defensive Line: Yellow
The defensive line was one of UNC’s bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season, and it does not appear to need much help. Most of the interior defensive line is set to return, and defensive end Melkart Abou Jaoude — who led the ACC with 10.5 sacks — will be back as well.
However, this position group is marked yellow for two reasons: The Heels need another true edge rusher after Tyler Thompson (7.5 sacks last season) entered the portal, and there is a real risk of Abou Jaoude hitting the portal, too. UNC needs to add another impact edge rusher to pair with Abou Jaoude, as Smith Vilbert profiles more as a true run-stopper.
Just as important, the Tar Heels must keep Abou Jaoude in Chapel Hill. His play last season drew significant national attention, and other programs are likely to pursue him aggressively. UNC has to make sure it presents a strong NIL package, because other schools will try to outbid them.
Linebacker: Red
This unit will need a lot of attention due to having little to no key contributors coming back in this unit. Khmori House and Andrew Simpson, the two starters last season in UNC’s 4-2-5 base defense, have departed as House entered the portal and Simpson is out of eligibility. Mikai Gbayor, who was a key rotation piece, is also out of eligibility.
The Tar Heels will potentially need two linebackers at least, possibly even three. The good thing is that the Tar Heels have a 4-2-5 base defense, which doesn’t need as many linebackers as a 3-4 or a 4-3.
Secondary: Red
This should be high on UNC’s list. The Tar Heels lost three defensive backs — cornerback Khalil Conley, cornerback Ty White and safety Malcolm Ziglar — to the portal. It also does not help that both of the Tar Heels’ starting safeties — Gavin Gibson and Will Hardy — along with starting corners Marcus Allen and Thaddeus Dixon are out of eligibility.
The good news is that Jaiden Patterson and Kaleb Cost will both return. Patterson was a starter for a good portion of the season with Dixon missing time because of injury, while Cost was the starter at nickelback.
However, the defensive backfield will be full of inexperienced and unproven players. While the defensive staff did a great job developing some of them into key contributors last season, you still have to have the talent needed to win games, and the Tar Heels found that out the hard way at times.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Football: Breaking down defensive needs in the transfer portal
