Tar Heels QB Receives Low Rankings

North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Max Johnson, who has not played a snap of football since breaking his leg against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in last season's opener, has been named the presumptive favorite to win the starting job over South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez.

The Sporting News has ranked Johnson as the 12th best quarterback in the Atlantic Coast Conference. There are only 17 starting quarterbacks in the league. That prediction does not bode well for the Tar Heels.

"Surprisingly, The Sporting News has tabbed Max Johnson as North Carolina's starting quarterback over South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez. New Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick has yet to reveal whether Johnson or Lopez will start in their season opener against TCU," the publication said. "Johnson, who is at his third program, broke his leg in Carolina's season opener against Minnesota last season."

As expected, the website ranked three quarterbacks in the conference as Clemson's Cade Klubnik, Miami's Carson Beck and SMU's Kevin Jennings very high on their list. Klubnik and Jennings led their teams to the College Football Playoff last season. Klubnik outdueled Jennings in the ACC Championship Game.

Klubnik starts out as the top-ranked quarterback in the conference. He is optimistic he will have a good season and lead Clemson to a national title.

“I came to Clemson to win [a National Championship], and it’d be really cool,”Klubnik told On3’s Pete Nakos. “But I think more than anything, I want to be remembered for the person I was off the field as well, and the impact that I had on people. Because I think that’s going to carry on for a long time, too. To do both of those would be really awesome.”

Haynes King of Georgia Tech was ranked No. 2 by The Sporting News. King enters his sixth season of college football and looks to lead the Yellow Jackets to the ACC Championship Game. He has passed for 4,956 yards, 41 touchdowns and 18 interceptions over his last two seasons at Tech.

He is not concerned with individual awards or rankings, he is concerned where the Yellow Jackets will finish in the conference.

“I’m not the one to mainly focus on individual accolades or individual success,”King said to Nakos. “If your team’s having success, that stuff is going to come.”

Beck, the Georgia Transfer, rounds out the top three quarterbacks in the conference. Beck already has two National Championship rings from his days as a backup to Stetson Bennett, will be replacing Miami's former starter Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick of the draft in 2025.

Jennings checks in at No. 4 on the list as he looks to replicate last season's success and bring the Mustangs back to the ACC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.

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