Why the Sun Bowl is likely Mitch Trubisky’s last college game:

Carolina football has carried the subplot of whether the Tar Heels’ star quarterback will turn pro after his fourth year in school but only his junior season. Trubisky can graduate this summer and is top 10 in all NFL mock drafts, as high as the No. 1 pick in a few.

Such a draft position will net No. 10 millions in contract and signing bonus money. Trubisky admits his stock probably can’t get any higher if he returned for his senior season in 2017 and implied that it could be a lot lower if he failed to put up the same record breaking numbers he did as a red-shirt junior.

Some scouts say he needs another full season of looking at multiple defenses to get him ready for the NFL, and that may be true. But he has the 6-3 size and the cannon arm that can make all the throws. The downside of his returning is a bigger risk than having a steeper learning curve in rookie camp. That downside includes losing his top three receivers and blockers from UNC’s veteran offense.

The receivers moving on are seniors Ryan Switzer, Bug Howard and Mack Hollins, whose loss at mid-season affected Carolina’s downfield passing game. The O-linemen leaving are center Lucas Crowley, tackle John Heck and guard Caleb Peterson. So that yields a rebuilding line and only experienced receivers in Austin Proehl and Anthony Ratliff plus tight ends Brandon Fritts and Carl Tucker.

In fact, the Tar Heels’ entire offense could look different if Elijah Hood changes his mind and turns pro, joining the departure of senior running backs T.J. Logan and Khris Francis. It’s a total crap shoot who replaces Trubisky, unless two-sport star and red-shirt freshman Chazz Surratt emerges as an immediate starter. So it looks like Trubisky’s best move would be to look out for himself first, and Larry Fedora says he will support whatever decision Mitch makes.

Trubisky playing behind a green line and throwing to unproven wide-outs such as Jordan Cunningham, Rontavious Groves and Juval Mollette, entering the NFL draft seems like a foregone conclusion for perhaps the best QB pro prospect in UNC history.

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