Stuck Behind NFL Talents At Ohio State, Thurman Quickly Emerging As UNC Star
By David Glenn
During his three seasons at Ohio State, Jelani Thurman played only as a backup for the Buckeyes.
Now in his first year at North Carolina, Thurman not only has emerged as the Tar Heels’ starting tight end, he’s making national headlines for both his blocking skills and his pass-catching ability, and he might just turn out to be among the team’s top players.
Through Week Two, Thurman ranked second nationally among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) tight ends with 165 receiving yards, and his big plays against TCU and East Tennessee State are on the short list of the biggest reasons the Tar Heels are off to a 2-0 start.
“I’m truly grateful,” Thurman said. “Being able to come in here and fit the offense, be a key player in the offense, be a highlighted player in the offense, and be able to catch some balls from (QB Billy Edwards). And to be coached by some of the best coaches in the game, I mean, I can’t complain. It’s good football. I’m ready to play.”
The Pro Football Focus website individually grades thousands of college football players each week after thoroughly reviewing game footage, and Thurman was the highest-rated tight end in the country last week for his performance against ETSU, with a stellar 94.2 score on a 100-point scale. The only way a tight end can grade out that well is if he’s standing out as both a blocker (Thurman is an imposing 6-foot-6, 245-pounder) and a pass-catcher.
In 2025, the longest pass reception by any UNC tight end went for 19 yards. In his first snap for the Tar Heels, against TCU in Ireland, Thurman had a catch-and-run for 20 yards. He later had 25-yard and 35-yard receptions against the Horned Frogs, and he added a 25-yarder and a 24-yarder last week against ETSU.
At the conclusion of last year’s 12-game regular season, Carolina’s top tight end had 149 receiving yards. Thurman has surpassed that total in two games.
image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
As you might expect, Thurman has been drawing praise from UNC head coach Bill Belichick and Carolina’s new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
“Jelani gave us some explosive plays, especially early in the (TCU) game, to kind of get us started there,” Belichick said. “And then the pass and on the naked (bootleg) in the flat was a big first down there at the end on the last drive.”
Belichick, of course, helped turn legendary New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski into one of the most productive tight ends in NFL history. Petrino, formerly a head coach at Arkansas, Louisville and with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, also has frequently showcased the tight end position, including with former Arkansas star DJ Williams, who won the John Mackey Award as college football’s top tight end in 2010 before moving on to a professional career.
Thurman, who was used mostly as a blocker at Ohio State, said the track records and philosophies of Belichick and Petrino with the tight end position were pivotal in his decision to transfer to UNC. In fact, his commitment came just two days after the announcement of Petrino as the Tar Heels’ new offensive coordinator.
“The tight end position is just a great position overall,” Thurman said. “Carolina just brought me in, and they showed everybody how the tight ends can work. This year, we’re just executing. The whole team is executing. The offense is executing. It should be a good year.”
High-quality execution under pressure became an absolute necessity during UNC’s opener against TCU, a game that remained up for grabs into the final minutes. The Heels were up 15-10 with their offense on the field, but they were backed up deep in their own territory, trying to run out the final four minutes.
On a second-and-12 play just before the two-minute timeout, with the Horned Frogs perhaps expecting another run, Edwards faked a handoff and threw a short pass slightly low and behind the in-motion Thurman in the right flat. A lot of tight ends would have dropped such a toss, but Thurman extended his long arms behind him, made a smooth grab without breaking stride, turned upfield and accelerated with an impressive burst, gained 25 yards to near midfield, protected the ball with both arms/hands when several tacklers converged to bring him down, and bounced up quickly to give a two-handed first-down signal.
“After getting the ball, it was really green grass,” Thurman said. “But I saw my two blockers out in front of me. I was really just trying to stay in bounds so we can keep the clock running and keep the game going.”
“You got to make sure you’re doing certain things to get #45 touches,” said Edwards, who describes Thurman as the football version of a Swiss Army knife. “When he gets going, I think we have a really great opportunity to be dangerous as an offense.”
Thurman, who was a prep All-American at Langston Hughes High School in the talent-rich Atlanta area in Georgia four years ago, already has more receiving yards in his first two games with the Tar Heels (165) than he had in three full seasons at Ohio State (144), even though he played in 35 career games for the Buckeyes, including all 16 during their national championship campaign in 2024.
During those three seasons at Ohio State, Thurman played behind fellow tight ends Cade Stover (a fourth-round NFL draft pick now with the Houston Texans), Gee Scott Jr. (several years on NFL practice squads), Will Kacmarek (a third-round NFL pick now with the Miami Dolphins) and Max Klare (a second-round NFL pick now with the Los Angeles Rams).
Now Thurman is finally on the NFL’s radar, too, just as his own parents emerged as professional-caliber talents more than two decades ago.
Thurman’s father, Odell Thurman, was an All-Southeastern Conference linebacker for Georgia in 2003 and 2004 before moving on to an NFL career. Thurman’s mother, Kara Braxton, was an All-SEC basketball player for the Bulldogs who went on to become an all-star and two-time champion in the WNBA.
Jelani Thurman was born just as his father was preparing for his jump to the NFL and his mother was getting ready for her jump to the WNBA.
Now Jelani — in his fourth year of college football, but his first with the Tar Heels — appears to be making a very significant jump of his own.
David Glenn (DavidGlennShow.com, @DavidGlennShow) is an award-winning author, broadcaster, editor, entrepreneur, publisher, speaker, writer and university lecturer (now at UNC Wilmington) who has covered sports in North Carolina since 1987.
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