The North Carolina Tar Heels are no stranger to recent struggles against NC State in its football rivalry, while archrival Duke is a team UNC typically beats.
Wake Forest is proving to be another solid in-state college football program, East Carolina is no stranger to success (look at the early-mid 2000s), NC Central performs well at the FCS level, while App State is the Tar Heel State’s most consistently-successful program.
Regardless of what collegiate football program you talk about in North Carolina, the Tar Heels own one impressive distinction in their home state: most first-round NFL Draft picks, leading their state with 25.
Drake Maye, the 2022 ACC Player and Rookie of the Year who threw for 8,018 yards and 63 touchdowns in his UNC career, was chosen third overall by the New England Patriots in the 2024 NFL Draft.
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The full list of North Carolina’s first round draft picks is highlighted by Hall-of-Famers Lawrence Taylor and Julius Peppers, but also includes, in order of year selected: Ken Willard (1965), Don McCauley (1971), Ken Huff (1975), Taylor and Donnell Thompson (1981), Brian Blados (1984), Ethan Horton (1985), 3-time Super Bowl Chapmion Harris Barton (1987), Thomas Smith (1993), Marcus Jones (1996), Vonnie Holliday, Brian Simmons and 2007 Pro Bowler Greg Ellis (1998), Ebenezer Ekuban (1999), Peppers and Ryan Sims (2002), Kentwan Balmer (2008), Hakeem Nicks (2009), Robert Quinn (2011), Quinton Coples (2012), Jonathan Cooper and Sylvester Williams (2013), Eric Ebron (2014), Mitch Trubisky (2017) and Maye (2024).
Here’s to hoping Maye enjoys a successful career like most of his UNC first-round predecessors.
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