Coming out of the 2019 season, one of the biggest takeaways from the Mack Brown era was that the offensive side of the ball has a very high ceiling as long as Sam Howell is under center for the Tar Heels (and hopefully beyond). However, Jay Bateman’s defensive unit showed a lot of promise as well, and this year they will likely take another step forward in becoming the stingy, ball-hawking defense of our dreams. That dream begins and ends with the defensive line, which is what we are here to discuss.
Let’s take a look at this year’s defensive line, and also we will discuss what Mack Brown had to say about this group and who he thinks has shown the most improvement.