Saturday afternoon, the nation’s top players in the 2024 recruiting class took to the Alamo Dome in San Antonio for this year’s edition of the All-American Bowl. Among those in attendance were three of the team’s early signees in the class and one of their preferred walk-on’s.
Jordan Shipp was the player who shined the most in the practices during the week and that carried over in the game. He was targeted six times and caught five of them for 72 yards, one of the best performances from a wide receiver on Saturday. He was able to affect the game at all three levels and showed his reliable hands throughout the game. This week further heightened the thoughts that Shipp could make an impact as soon as this season in Chapel Hill.
Ashton Woods was a late addition to the game and had a really good day for him. These types of games are not meant to showcase linebackers, but Woods was still able to make a nice impression on Saturday. He didn’t get the chance to make many plays, but he did have an impressive tackle for loss where he showed his great pursuit of the football and his sideline-to-sideline ability. His most impactful play of the day, though, came on a deflected ball that karamed into his hands and helped flip the game for the East. Woods may not have been the best linebacker in attendance this week, but he showed on Saturday that he’ll have a chance to fight for reps in the very inexperienced linebacker room in the fall.
Andrew Rosinski was another late addition for this week and he wasn’t nearly as impressive as the other two December signees, but still had a solid day for himself. It is important to note that he was playing out of position at the center spot on Saturday and it was obvious at times. He had a couple of low snaps, including one in the second quarter that led to Wake Forest signee Jeremy Hecklinski getting banged up. Outside of the low snaps, he looked pretty good, though. He was very impactful in run blocking situations, finishing with two pancake blocks on just six such snaps. He did his part in pass protection, too, failing to allow a pressure on the quarterback throughout the day. It would have been great to see what Rosinski could do at tackle, the spot he is expected to play at the college level, but he was able to show that he has the ability to play the center spot with a little bit of polishing.
The preferred walk-on that was in attendance was long snapper Grant Mills who committed to the team back in summer. He had a clean day for himself while handling the snapping on both kicks and punts. With Drew Little graduating, there could be a chance for Mills to compete for the snapping duties on punts next season.