Greg McElroy evaluates whether North Carolina can win with Conner Harrell at QB

Conner Harrell will be North Carolina‘s starting quarterback for Week 2 after replacing veteran Max Johnson, who broke his leg in the third quarter of the Tar Heels’ season opener and will miss the remainder of the season.

However, ESPN’s Greg McElroy doesn’t believe UNC fans should be panicking. Instead, he sees a lot of upside in the reshirt sophomore and with the talent around him and is excited to see how he fares against Charlotte this weekend.

CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use code ON3 to receive a guaranteed $50 once you play $5 in lineups!

“I think things are in a pretty good spot right now with North Carolina, I would love to have a veteran in there at quarterback. That’d be really helpful,” McElroy said on his show on Wednesday. “I hate that Max Johnson dealt with that injury. You saw it the right leg. Grabbed it immediately. … But I think Conner Harrell is a guy that is super athletic, very gifted athlete. He can run, can take off, but nothing I saw in the performance against Minnesota last week made me feel super confident about him as a thrower.

“It looked like he was throwing it with a lot of velocity, but the accuracy was a little hit or miss. Looked like his nose was down a little bit when he released the football, and that’s tough for the wide receivers to catch.”

Watch College Football Games Live -Try for Free Fubo! Click HERE NOW

Harrell finished the rest of North Carolina’s 19-17 win four passes to his credit. He completed half of them for 34 yards, including a 32-yard strike to JJ Jones on the drive to set up the game-winning field goal by kicker Noah Burnette.

“The good news is you still have one of the best backs in the sport in Omarion Hampton. You have an offensive line that, I think, did some nice things last week,” McElroy continued. “I think you have skill position players at wide receiver and tight end that will make life a little easier for Conner Harrell, and in the event in which Harrell can’t get it done, you’re lucky because you have Jacolby Criswell available as well.”

Before Drake Maye was named the starter ahead of the 2022 season, Criswell competed with Maye for the starting job and had been with the Tar Heels program since 2020 until transferring to Arkansas for the 2023 season. He’s now back in Chapel Hill and will serve as the second quarterback in the depth chart. Whether Criswell sees the field remains to be seen, but is a trusted insurance policy in a pinch.

Kickoff between the Tar Heels and 49ers is set for 3:30 p.m. ET live on the ACC Network.