Tag: Kobe Paysour

Another UNC wide receiver withdraws from transfer portal after Bill Belichick hiring

UNC’s 2025 wide receiver group just got a major upgrade on Tuesday.

Piece by piece, the UNC football roster is already starting to round into shape for 2025.

North Carolina can thank its new head coach, Bill Belichick, for playing a big part in that.

The Tar Heels’ greatest roster victory came from 2024 starting middle linebacker Amare Campbell, who recently withdrew his name from the transfer portal. UNC also has a pair of transfer portal commitments, plus visits from a pair of 5-star transfers and early interest from the 2026 recruiting class.

On Tuesday, December 17, North Carolina gained another major roster win from one of its skill players.

Kobe Paysour, a junior starting wide receiver who caught 19 passes for 330 yards during the Tar Heels’ 2024 regular season, withdrew his name from the transfer portal.

With J.J. Jones, Nate McCollum, Bryson Nesbit and John Copenhaver running out of eligibility, Paysour will bring UNC some needed experience in its pass-catching corps. Jones anchored a young receiving corps this season – now, it’ll be Paysour’s turn to do the same in 2025.

Paysour got his first chance to start for North Carolina in 2022 – and took full advantage of his chance, catching a career-high 29 passes and four touchdowns, to go along with 324 receiving yards. Paysour started again in 2023, before suffering a season-ending injury.

With Devontez Walker gone to the NFL this offseason, Paysour got another chance to lead the Tar Heels’ receiving corps in 2024. Paysour played well in the regular-season, catching 19 passes for a career-high 330 yards and 17.4 yards per catch, forming a reliable receiver trio with Jones and McCollum.

Will any other wide receivers commit to UNC through the transfer portal? How about recruits flipping to Chapel Hill?

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A pair of UNC football wide receivers hit the transfer portal

More Tar Heels are expected to see what other opportunities are in the transfer portal.

North Carolina has been a roller coaster of a football program in the last week. They have lost players to the transfer portal, hired the greatest coach of all time in a resurgence of his career, welcomed players back from the portal, and now are losing more players to the transfer portal.

Yesterday, the team received a pair of re-commitments from offensive linemen and today, they received notice take receivers Kobe Paysour and Gavin Blackwell will test the open market and see what opportunities lie outside Chapel Hill.

Paysour spend four seasons with North Carolina and Mack Brown. He had his best year in receptions in his sophomore year catching 29 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns.

This most recent season, he caught just 19 passes in 12 games for a career-high 330 yards averaging a career-high 17.4 yards per reception. However, he didn’t reel in a single touchdown from Jacolby Criswell.

Gavin Blackwell came to Chapel Hill in the same season that Paysour did. Blackwell had his best season in the same year as Paysour as well. He caught 18 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown in his sophomore year.

However, last year, he was used sporadically, seeing time in just six games. He caught four passes for 43 yards this season.

While it is never a pleasant sight to see players walk away from the program, we hope to see an equal number of transfer portal players head to Chapel Hill from other universities now that Belichick is at the helm.

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Paysour injures other foot, will now miss Duke’s Mayo Bowl

UNC’s deep wide receiver corps is even more depleted now, with Kobe Paysour breaking his foot this week. Who will Conner Harrell throw to?

Just last week, the UNC football team learned it was getting wide receiver Kobe Paysour back for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Paysour is the Heels’ number five receiver in terms of receiving yardage, which would be a huge boost to a unit that lost Devontez Walker to the NFL Draft. Carolina’s plan was to have a receiving corps that consisted of J.J. Jones, Bysonson Nesbit and Georgia Tech transfer Nate McCollum.

UNC’s now going to have one less amongst that group.

On Wednesday, Dec. 20, InsideCarolina announced that Paysour will now miss the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 27 with a broken foot.

This injury definitely has an impact on the receiving corps, particularly one with a new quarterback in Conner Harrell under center. Harrell showcased what he can do in UNC’s blowout win over Campbell, but he has yet to start a game for the Tar Heels yet.

While Paysour won’t be playing in next week’s bowl game, I expect he’ll return to Chapel Hill next Fall. He’ll likely have a more featured role in the offense, alongside J.J. Jones and Nate McCollum atop the depth chart.

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Tar Heels getting much-needed, offensive reinforcement for Duke’s Mayo Bowl

UNC wide receiver Kobe Paysour broke his foot in mid-October. There’s a strong chance he suits up for the Tar Heels in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

When the UNC football team started its 2023 campaign 6-0, it had sights set on something greater than just any old bowl game.

Carolina was ranked 10th in the AP Poll after Week 6, putting it ahead of current College Football Playoff team Alabama. There was still an outside chance, but the Tar Heels were attempting to defy the odds and make the CFP.

A loss to UVA put a major dent in those hopes, while a loss to Georgia Tech the following week ended them. Regular season-ending defeats against Clemson and N.C. State – also in consecutive weeks – slipped UNC from a possible New Years’ Six bowl to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Several Carolina stars and highly-ranked NFL Draft prospects, most notably Devontez Walker and Drake Maye, have opted out. Their sights are set on staying healthy for long NFL careers. While it’d be great to see the electric duo playing, I don’t blame either of them for looking ahead in the future.

The Tar Heels are getting one important part of their offense back for their bowl game, though, as sophomore wide receiver Kobe Paysour will return from a broken foot sustained in mid-October.

Paysour was one of UNC’s top receivers before he injured himself, catching 22 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns in just five games. He still sits ahead of Carolina’s number two tight end in John Copenhaver, who played in all 12 regular-season games and finished with 279 receiving yards.

Particularly with Walker opting out, Paysour’s likely going to be looked to more in the passing game. He has an early opportunity to develop rapport with new UNC QB1 Conner Harrell, who takes over for Maye.

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UNC football WR Kobe Paysour ruled OUT indefinitely

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be without sophomore wide receiver Kobe Paysour who broke his foot earlier this week in practice.

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be without wide receiver Kobe Paysour indefinitely after it was revealed that he had broken his foot earlier this week in practice.

Losing Paysour is a big blow for UNC, which finally had regained its receiving core at full strength. This season, Paysour has accounted for 22 catches for 282 receiving yards.

According to Tar Heel Illustrated, which first reported the news, they revealed that Paysour has already undergone surgery and is expected to be out for 6-12 weeks.

Losing Paysour will likely create more targets for UNC’s tight-end group while presenting J.J Jones with more opportunities. The devastating news could not come at a worse time, with UNC’s name starting to mumble as a potential playoff team.

Seeing how UNC’s offense handles Paysour being sidelined will be interesting.

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Six 100-yard receivers have UNC’s passing attack amongst nation’s best

The UNC football program doesn’t know who’ll lead its passing attack in a given week. That’s a good thing keeping opponents guessing.

When Drake Maye is your quarterback, you’re going to score lots of points and win plenty of games.

Behind every great quarterback, however, is a great group of pass-catchers.

Fortunately for Maye, the UNC gunslinger who is projected to be a top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, his pass-catchers are making life easy for him.

With Walker initially being ruled ineligible, guys had to step up at receiver. The other receivers haven’t only stepped up, they’ve thoroughly exceeded expectations, with six guys reaching at least 100 yards.

Walker finally earned eligibility, sending a massive cheer throughout Tar Heel Nation. His presence should further bolster an already dangerous group.

Georgia Tech transfer Nate McCollum is atop the group with 355 receiving yards. He just registered his second 100-yard receiving effort in two weeks, catching seven Maye passes for a UNC-high 135 yards against Syracuse.

J.J. Jones has 318 yards, but still is looking for his first score. Jones’ best output this year was a six-catch, 117-yard showout at Pitt.

Kobe Paysour leads Carolina with three receiving touchdowns. His first 100-yard outing came against Syracuse, as he caught three passes for exactly 100 yards and a score.

All three tight ends have over 100 receiving yards, but Bryson Nesbit leads the way with 167 receiving yards. Kamari Morales (not pictured in above post) has 139 receiving yards, while John Copenhaver has 106. Nesbit and Copenhaver have two receiving touchdowns each.

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UNC Football: Helmet stickers for win over Syracuse

The UNC football team obliterated Syracuse, 40-7, yesterday afternoon in Chapel Hill. Check out who won our helmet stickers for the win.

It seemed like everything was working for the UNC football team on Saturday afternoon, as it dominated Syracuse, 40-7, in a convincing win that showed it’s among the ACC’s top teams.

Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is looking more and more like a Heisman Trophy contender each week, as he nearly set a career high in passing yards against an Orange defense that played well coming in. Tar Heels wide receiver Nate McCollum delivered his second 100-yard performance in as many weeks. Omarion Hampton nearly broke 80 yards rushing and the UNC defense, among college football’s worst last year, held Syracuse to a season-low in points.

There were so many UNC players and units deserving of helmet stickers, but we’ve decided to narrow in on a select few. Let’s take a deeper dive into this article and see who captured them:

WATCH: Drake Maye connects with Kobe Paysour for 77 yards

Watch Drake Maye connect with Kobe Paysour for a 77-yard touchdown.

It was light-camera action for the UNC offense against Syracuse, with [autotag]Drake Maye[/autotag] throwing dots left and right. One of those throws was to Sophomore wide receiver [autotag]Kobe Paysour[/autotag], who went for 77 yards to the end-zone.

The play electrified a hyped crowd, with Paysour making what looked like a broken pass thrown in coverage to a highlight grab. The 77-yard touchdown catch is the longest of Paysour’s career and pushed Maye over 400 passing yards on the day.

It marked Maye’s third time eclipsing over 400 passing yards, his second time doing so this season.

When Paysour makes catches like that, there is no denying how scary this offense can be when everyone clicks on all cylinders. Maye continues to shine, adding his name back into the Heisman race.

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UNC Football: Helmet stickers for win over Pitt

UNC delivered a second-consecutive well-rounded performance in its ACC-opening football victory over Pitt. Let’s check out who shined.

With a thorough, 41-24 victory over Pitt in its ACC football opener, the UNC football team is 4-0 for the first time since 1997.

Who was the head coach back then? The same guy leading Carolina right now – Mack Brown.

UNC’s defense looked like swiss cheese in the opening quarter, as it allowed Pitt to march right down the field and cap off its opening drive with a 7-yard, Rodney Hammond Jr. touchdown run. The Panthers tacked on ten more first-half points, then returned a kick 100 yards for a score.

For the third time in four games, Carolina suffocated its opponent defensively. The Heels’ defense pitched a second-half shutout Saturday night – Pitt’s kick return is considered a defensive score. UNC allowed only six combined second-half points between the South Carolina and Minnesota games.

Alijah Huzzie headlined a strong special teams unit, taking a second-quarter punt 52 yards to the house and giving the Tar Heels a lead they’d never relinquish.

Drake Maye shined with 296 passing yards and three total touchdowns, but he stole the spotlight with his late first-half, left-handed touchdown pass to Kobe Paysour.

With such a well-rounded victory, it’s tough to single in on specific players for helmet stickers. Let’s take a look at who we think deserve them:[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]

UNC Football: Offensive Keys to the Game against Minnesota

UNC aims to go 3-0 in its football season on Saturday, when it takes on Minnesota at home. Check out the five offensive keys to the game.

A dominant ground game and rare defensive stop had the UNC football team celebrating on Saturday, Sept. 9 in front of its home fans, as it came-from-behind and took down App State, 40-34, in yet another offensive thriller.

This game looked very reminiscent of last year’s – teams moving the ball at will and struggling to get defensive stops. Offensive production came from virtually anyone in the second half, with UNC and App State combining for 54 second-half points.

During the 2022 battle in Boone, the Tar Heels and Mountaineers combined for 62 fourth-quarter points.

Omarion Hampton was college football’s top running back in Week 2, running for an insane 234 yards and 3 touchdowns on 26 carries. He practically picked up a first down, averaging nine yards per carry.

Hampton sits fifth among FBS leaders in total rushing yards (271), so it’d be hard not to start him against Minnesota on Saturday.

Drake Maye threw for over 200 yards, but he was, once again, largely held in check for a Heisman Trophy contender’s standards.

What does UNC need to do better offensively so it can move to 3-0? Or will the Tar Heels follow the same offensive blueprint from the win against App State?