Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Lose Starting TE to the Portal

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After a quiet weekend on the transfer front, the Tar Heels have lost a contributor at the tight end position to the portal.

As first reported by Pete Nakos on On3/Rivals, Tar Heels tight end Jake Johnson is following in his brother’s football footsteps and entering the transfer portal when it opens on January 2nd. He will have one year of eligibility remaining wherever he lands.

Johnson spent two years with the Tar Heels, playing in all 25 games, including five starts for the team at tight end. Last year, Johnson played 202 snaps on the offensive side of the ball, but finished with just two catches for 21 yards. This year, in 297 snaps, he pulled down 16 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. He was also a part of special teams over the past two years, playing 116 snaps across the two seasons.

With his departure, the Tar Heels have now lost their top two contributors at the position from this season in terms of snap count. The good news is that the team still has Connor Cox and Shamar Easter who played significant snaps this season and they did bring in two tight ends in the early signing class that they just signed last week. Even with that, it would not shock me if this is still a position where the team could look to the portal for help this offseason.