North Carolina stabilizes at QB with key transfer Gio Lopez: Where does Bill Belichick go from here in portal?

One of the big missing pieces of Bill Belichick’s first North Carolina team had been quarterback. There was no clarity on who would play the position coming out of spring practice, where an inexperienced group of passers battled for the starting job. The Tar Heels seemed to feel the same way about their options, choosing to strike quickly upon the opening bell of the spring transfer portal window to land South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez.

Ranked as the No. 3 available quarterback in the 247Sports Portal rankings, Lopez broke out as a redshirt freshman during the 2024 season. He finished the year ranked 30th in ESPN’s QBR metric, completing 66% of his passes and running for 5.6 yards per carry while emerging as one of the top dual-threat options in the FBS.

So, what does Lopez’s addition mean for UNC’s QB room in 2025? How does he build on what the Tar Heels have done so far? And what could be next for a team expected to be extremely active during the spring cycle?

Let’s break it down …

Lopez stabilizes UNC’s QB situation

North Carolina went through the spring with two main players in its quarterback battle: Purdue transfer Ryan Browne and four-star true freshman Bryce Baker. Browne, a rising redshirt sophomore, had only thrown 92 career passes. Baker arrived on campus in January.

Exiting the spring game — and really for a few weeks before that — it was clear the Tar Heels would have to make a quarterback addition in the portal. UNC could have bet on one of its young passers or hoped veteran QB Max Johnson could return 100% from a leg injury he suffered to open last season. But neither of those options were a guarantee.

Instead, the Tar Heels made a move.

Lopez brings a full year of starting experience, three years of…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/north-carolina-stabilizes-at-qb-with-key-transfer-gio-lopez-where-does-bill-belichick-go-from-here-in-portal/

Author : Chris Hummer

Publish date : 2025-04-18 14:31:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.