Which UNC quarterback ranked Top-30 by The Athletic ahead of 2025 CFB season?
The North Carolina Tar Heels are just over a month away from the start of their highly-anticipated, 2025 football football season, but still have yet to name an official starting quarterback.
UNC returns longtime SEC quarterback Max Johnson , who broke his leg in the 2024 opener at Minnesota. 4-star quarterback Bryce Baker joins North Carolina in its 2025 recruiting class, plus Gio Lopez transferred in from South Alabama.
All signs point to Lopez being the Tar Heels' 2025 starter – and deservedly so. In The Athletic's 2025 college football quarterback Tier List , Lopez lands 28th overall, which puts him in Tier 3.
"Lopez is a stocky southpaw with some juice," The Athletic wrote. "Coaches love his arm strength. "He’s not the twitchiest athlete, but he’s a speedy, tough and effective runner (463 yards, 7 TDs last year). Can he elevate his play, going from South Alabama to the ACC?
“He’s a no-brainer Power 4 guy,” a Power 4 OC said. “He has serious playmaking abilities.” A former P4 scouting director said of Lopez, “He’s the guy in the ACC who’s gonna raise the most eyebrows.”
Lopez quarterbacked South Alabama to a 7-6 record in 2024, which ended with a 30-23 defeated of Western Michigan in the Salute to Veterans Bowl. Lopez was a major part of the Jaguars' success, throwing for 2,559 yards and just 15 touchdowns.
Now in Chapel Hill, Lopez is tasked playing the most important position on a historically-underperforming UNC squad, which desperately hopes to become relevant in Year One under 8-time Super Bowl Champion Bill Belichick.
With plenty of unknown amongst the North Carolina, Lopez has a golden chance to become "the guy," starting in Week 1 against TCU under the Kenan Stadium lights.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC's Gio Lopez ranked 28th-best college football QB by The Athletic
