The attrition for the Tar Heel football team continued on Saturday night when the defensive backfield got a little bit thinner. As first reported by Inside Carolina, defensive back Bryson Richardson has entered the transfer portal according to those in his inner circle.
In his true freshman year back in 2018, Richardson played in all eleven games, mostly on special teams, but also saw some rotational reps at nickelback as the season went along, finishing with 4 total tackles, an interception and a pass deflection. As a sophomore, Richardson was set to be a key depth piece for the Tar Heels in the secondary that could have had a major impact last season, but instead was lost for the season due to an ACL injury. This year, he was scheduled to help the Tar Heels at nickelback and potentially safety once again, but now it appears that will not be the case.
After appearing to be the strongest unit depth-wise on this 2020 team heading into fall camp, the defensive backfield has grown a little weaker, especially at nickelback, in the past month. Richardson, Bryce Watts and D.J. Ford were all players who could have taken reps as a nickelback, leaving some question marks behind Trey Morrison. Cam’Ron Kelly, who took reps at the position a year ago in fall camp, may be needed there now after he originally looked like he was going to be fighting for a chance to start at safety. De’Andre Hollins also took reps here during fall camp a year ago and with the depth that the team has available on the outside, you would have to believe that there is a chance the Tar Heels could look to kick him inside. Others that could also see time here are sophomore Obi Egbuna and wide receiver-turned-defensive back Welton Spottsville.