North Carolina Tar Heels: John Ferranto Out for Season

Oct 3, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams (12, center) celebrates with running back Elijah Hood (34) and offensive tackle John Ferranto (77) after Williams
Oct 3, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams (12, center) celebrates with running back Elijah Hood (34) and offensive tackle John Ferranto (77) after Williams /
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The North Carolina Tar Heels will be without the services of lineman John Ferranto.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have gotten some good football news lately. Coach Larry Fedora was put on the Dodd Trophy Watch List. Mack Hollins got on the Biletnikoff Watch List for wide receivers. Ryan Switzer returned to the Paul Hornung watch list for two way players.

Yet there has also been some downer news as well. Senior offensive lineman John Ferranto will miss the season to an injured pectoral muscle according to reports from the Associated Press. Ferranto was moving in to the guard position to help fill the void left by Landon Turner.

This news takes a hit at the Carolina offensive line, which was going to feature experience across all the positions this year. However the line still has experience at the other four spots. If you have to adjust somewhere on the line, it might as well be the guard spots. Brad Henson, R.J. Prince, or Will Dancy should plug in with little fuss.

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The Tar Heel offense seems well poised to build on their success last year, but I am a bit reminded of the expectations of the 2007 Tar Heel defense after the 2006 defense turned out to be pretty good. There were only a handful of players who left that year, but they took all the leadership with them. 2007 was Bunting’s last year, in case you forgot.

The difference is that this is the offense we are talking about and that Mitch Trubisky has been waiting three years to run the show. There won’t be a problem there. A more appropriate question may be who fills in the leadership gap on the line, where Turner was so important. In this case, the first place to look would be the center position and Lukas Crowley.

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The other position group that looks a little different in the wide receiver group where Quinshad Davis and Kendrick Singleton no longer reside. Somehow I think Hollins and Switzer will bring them through just fine.