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Two former Carolina quarterbacks stood out on opening weekend.
UNC has 20 alumni currently playing in the National Football League. To show you the discrepancy between college programs as feeders to pro football, Alabama has the most ex-players in the NFL at 58 this season.
Still, one-time Tar Heels definitely made headlines on the first weekend, especially fifth-round draft choice Sam Howell, who is the new QB1 for the Washington Commanders after barely playing his rookie season.
For his first two years in Chapel Hill, the record-breaking Howell was considered a sure shot pro draft pick, as high as a first rounder on some mock draft boards entering his junior season in 2021. But then things changed.
Howell became too much of a running quarterback after Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, both thousand-yard rushers, turned pro. Because he was tabbed a pocket passer, Howell fell to the first pick in the fifth round.
Commanders head coach Ron Rivera, when he coached the Panthers, grew familiar with Howell and considered him a steal when he was still available. Howell bided his time and won the job over the summer after starting the meaningless last game of the 2022 season and winning it.
The holder of 27 UNC records, Howell was left after Taylor Heinicke and Carson Wentz both departed after the season. In his true debut, Howell led his new team to a 20-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals by completing 19 passes for 202 yards and the go-ahead touchdown.
The most stunning moment of opening weekend was at the end of overtime in the much-anticipated New York Jets unveiling of all-pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had been traded from the Packers.
MetLife Stadium was unlike Jet fans had ever seen on the 22-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and welcoming Rodgers. But disaster struck after four snaps when Rodgers was sacked and suffered a torn his Achilles tendon that ended his season and could also finish his pro career for the 39-year-old.
The Jets beat the Bills in dramatic fashion when rookie Xavier Gipson returned a punt 65 yards, a run that was highlighted by special-teams player Chazz Surratt, whose flying block cleared the way for Gipson to score the winner.
Surratt, of course, was a UNC QB under Larry Fedora and switched to defense when Mack Brown arrived. As an All-ACC linebacker, who saved the Duke game with a dramatic interception at the goal line, Surratt rekindled his dream of playing in the NFL and wound up a third-round draft pick.
Featured image via Associated Press/Daniel Kucin Jr.
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