Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Add Yet Another OL Via the Transfer Portal

Scott Winters- Icon Sportswire

The Tar Heels have nearly completely rebuilt the offensive line this offseason and it continued on Friday morning when the team added another experienced option to the room.

As first reported by Matt Zeintz and Chris Hummer of 247Sports, South Carolina interior offensive line transfer Jakai Moore has committed and signed with the Tar Heels after entering the transfer portal back on April 24th. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Moore, a former 3✮ prospect in the 2019 class, has spent the last six years in Columbia with the Gamecocks. In those six seasons, he has played in 44 games and started 28 of those games across four positions (13 at left tackle, 7 at left guard, 4 at right guard and 4 at right tackle). In 2019, as a true freshman, he played 101 snaps and graded out with a 42.1 run block grade, a 51.8 pass block grade and a 43.5 overall grade according to PFF while allowing zero sacks and two total quarterback pressures. In 2020, he played 435 snaps split between the two tackle spots and graded out with a 79.7 run block grade, a 30.3 pass block grade and a 65.6 overall grade while allowing three sacks and 22 total quarterback pressures. As a junior in 2021, he played 249 snaps, all at left tackle, and graded out with an 84.2 run block grade, a 43.3 pass block grade and a 69.0 overall grade while allowing three sacks and eight total quarterback pressures. In 2022, he played a career-high 496 snaps, splitting time between left tackle and left guard, and graded out with a 51.8 run block grade, a 71.2 pass block grade and a 59.6 overall grade while allowing three sacks and just nine total quarterback pressures. As a senior in 2023, he played 479 snaps, splitting his time between all four spots but spending most of his time between the two guard spots. He graded out with a 52.5 run block grade, a 55.0 pass block grade and a 52.8 overall grade while allowing two sacks and 18 total quarterback pressures. Unfortunately, this past season he sustained a season-ending injury prior to the season, leading to him earning an extra year of eligibility for this season.

Moore should not be a guy who comes in and immediately becomes a starter, but he should get a legitimate look at both tackle and guard spots this fall. At the least, he gives this team a nice rotational option with P4 experience, but there is an opportunity at both tackle spots and potentially both guard spots, meaning he could certainly prevail as a starter, especially in some of the early season matchups.