Going into Sam Howell’s final season, with top-notch targets Dazz Newsome and Dyami Brown having advanced to the NFL along with backfield behemoths Javonte Williams and Michael Carter, there was plenty of hand-wringing about who would step up as a weapon for the QB from Indian Trail. Sam ended up nobly trying to do it all himself, with a bit of Josh Downs sprinkled in, but with underwhelming results.
Entering this season, with Downs having exited to the NFL in his own right, questions arose as to who Drake Maye, in his presumed final season, would have left to throw the ball to.