Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Lose Former Starting WR to Transfer Portal

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The transfer portal isn’t set to open until the beginning of November, but the team now has a second player that has confirmed he will enter when it ends.

As he announced via social media on Sunday afternoon, Tar Heel wide receiver Chris Culliver will enter his name into the transfer portal when it opens on January 2nd. He joins offensive tackle William Boone as the players to make it official that they will go to the portal this offseason. He will have one year of eligibility remaining wherever he eventually lands.

Culliver was a key part of the Tar Heels wide receiver rotation at the start of the year, playing 126 snaps across the first six games of the season before not playing a single snap over the final six games of the season. In those first six games, he caught five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown on thirteen targets, which included three drops. His 51-yard touchdown reception in the game against Charlotte was the highlight of his season and one of the few explosive passing plays that the team hit this season. He also handled return duties early in the season for the team, returning five kicks for 102 yards.

Prior to this season, Culliver was utilized as a depth receiver that made some key plays in the kick return game for the team. Culliver played in 11 games in his freshman season, catching one pass for 41 yards and a touchdown and returning five kicks for 105 yards. His best season came last year as a sophomore, where he caught six passes for 135 yards and a touchdown and returned five kicks for 242 yards and two touchdowns.

With Culliver’s departure, the Tar Heels will be needing some guys to step up on the outside to play opposite of Jordan Shipp with Kobe Paysour leaving due to graduation. The hope is that guys like Alex Taylor, Nathan Leacock and Adrian Wilson can step up, but this might very well be a spot where the team looks to fill in the portal.