Draft Guru Impressed With Gio Lopez At Manning Passing Academy

North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez has yet to play a down for the Tar Heels, but he is already creating a buzz for himself with NFL Draft gurus.

Todd McShay, formerly of the ESPN Draft telecasts, was a casual observer at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana. The Academy has become the most preeminent passing camp for quarterbacks in the country.

Lopez caught McShay's eye and he liked what he saw. The former South Alabama product threw for more than 3,000 yards last season and scattered 25 touchdowns for the Jaguars. He was highly sought after once he hit the transfer portal and Bill Belichick was the lucky winner of the Lopez Sweepstakes.

The book on Lopez is that is he has a strong arm and happy feet. The 6-foot, 200 pound signal caller is making the right decisions early on and had a strong camp.

"Lopez transferred from South Alabama to become Bill Belichick’s first college QB," McShay wrote on his website. "He’s short but has BIG arm talent and killed it in the QB competition over the weekend. The deep ball specifically is beautiful, and it’s clear he has a lot of confidence in his arm. "

Lopez is a diamond in the rough. He lacks the prototype size of an NFL quarterback, but he has a cannon for an arm and the body type which will make him a hot commodity in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He is going to bring the dual threat quarterback to the Tar Heels offense that is reminiscent of Drake Maye. Not comparing Lopez to Maye, just merely illustrating the point that they are both dual threat quarterbacks.