Drake Maye recently moved up to the pros, leaving a big question mark at the quarterback position in North Carolina. Filling his spot won’t be easy. Maye led the Tar Heels to victories in his two seasons as a starter, and the way he racked up yards made him a highly touted ACC star, ultimately earning him a third-overall selection in the recent NFL Draft.
Still, a few eager candidates are ready to take on the pressure and are currently vying to take the reins in Chapel Hill: Conner Harrell, Jacolby Criswell and Max Johnson. Here’s a detailed breakdown of Maye’s potential successors.
Conner Harrell
Harrell, a three-star prospect out of high school, joined the Tar Heels in 2022 and chose to redshirt his freshman year. Last season, he appeared in five games, throwing for 278 yards and two touchdowns on a 66.7% passing percentage.
North Carolina fans were able to see Harrell as a starter in the Dukes’ Mayo Bowl last December. Following Drake Mayes’ decision to drop out of the game and focus on the NFL Draft, Harrell was named QB1 in the team’s final game of the season. His two interceptions and his late-season struggles could lead to arguments about his lack of experience, but it can be pointed out that Harrell was not adequately protected – the quarterback was sacked seven times. Even coach Mack Brown addressed the issue after the game.
“I thought Conner held up,” Brown said, according to Ellen Robinson of The Daily Tar Heel. “I thought we didn’t help him enough. We didn’t protect him enough.”
Still, there were signs of potential in the moments when Harrell had enough time to make a decision. He threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to JJ Jones in the second quarter. In addition, he showed off his dual-threat skills by running the football on several possessions.
Speaking of running ability, Harrell also ran for a touchdown during the season when North Carolina earned a blowout win over Campbell in November.
Jacolby Criswell
Next up is Jacolby Criswell, a familiar face among Tar Heel fans. Criswell spent his first three seasons at North Carolina, but always came in as a backup, playing behind players like Maye and Sam Howell. In all those years, the quarterback threw for a total of 204 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 133 yards and another touchdown. Both of his touchdowns came in his second season.
Criswell decided to look for greener pastures in 2023 and transferred to Arkansas through the transfer portal. However, he failed to secure the QB1 slot and was used as a backup to KJ Jefferson. In his only season with the Razorbacks, Criswell scored three touchdowns and 143 yards in four games.
The overall lack of playing time is obvious, but in the few minutes he’s been given, Criswell has flashed his strong throwing arm and ability to throw the ball with power, courtesy of his 6-foot-1, 230-pound frame.
As a fifth-year player, he returns to where it all began, hoping to finally earn a starting spot.
Max Johnson
Finally, there’s Max Johnson, who burst onto the college football scene as a four-star recruit in high school. Johnson is the most experienced of the three prospects, spending his first two college seasons at LSU. As a freshman in 2020, Johnson played just six games, but was named the starter toward the end of the season. Despite limited playing time, the QB had a 1,000-yard season, threw for eight touchdowns and ran for two more to cap off his freshman season.
Johnson’s next season should bring even bigger numbers. As a full-time starter for LSU, he amassed 2,814 passing yards and 27 touchdowns in 12 games with a 60.3 percent completion rate and a 144.4 pass efficiency rating. In the Tigers’ win over Central Michigan in September 2021, Johnson threw for 372 yards and five touchdowns.
He decided to transfer to Texas A&M in his third year, but missed most of the 2022 season due to a serious hand injury.
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Last year, Johnson took over as the Aggies’ head coach when Conner Weigman went down with a foot injury three games into the season. Johnson went 3-3 as a starter before he too was sidelined by an injury. In eight games for Texas A&M in 2023, Johnson had 1,452 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns.
Johnson is 6’6″ and his size gives him a good eye for the field and a good read of the defense, allowing receivers to make accurate throws even in tight time frames and under pressure. He weighs 230 pounds, which is probably a big reason why he’s not afraid to take a hit when he needs to. For his size, he can also move well and run when he needs to, as evidenced by his two rushing touchdowns last season.
Expected starter on the North Carolina football team
Looking at the resumes of all three quarterbacks, Max Johnson is the top candidate. His experience is the deciding factor here. The last two seasons raise concerns about his durability, but Johnson’s ability to run an offense for a full season will likely earn him that starting position. While Harrell shows promise and could add versatility in running, he still needs time to grow and mature. Criswell, on the other hand, simply doesn’t have enough playing time to match Johnson’s experience on the field.
The North Carolina football team is less than a month away from its season opener, which is against Minnesota on August 29th, and it should come as no surprise that Max Johnson will be the starting center.
