The UNC football team will enter the 2026 season with a revamped tight end room. The only tight end on the roster that recorded a reception last season is Shamar Easter, who caught two passes for 17 years in his redshirt sophomore season with the Heels. Jake Johnson was the only player at the tight end position to catch double digits passes for UNC in 2025, and he entered the portal and transferred to Auburn. Reserves Jordon Owens and Connor Cox have both left Chapel Hill as well; the former graduated,
while the latter moved on to Virginia.
To fill the gap, the Heels have brought in some transfers of their own, as well as having a couple of freshmen join the squad. The transfers have a startling lack of production to present; if you add up the entire position group’s 2025 stats, they’d total 23 catches for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Still, there actually is some optimism that this could be one of the stronger position groups for the Heels in 2026 if a couple of the transfers live up to their billing. Let’s look over who the Heels have on the 2026 roster.
The Transfers
Jelani Thurman: Thurman’s name and the word “potential” tend to get thrown around a lot this preseason. A redshirt junior, Thurman transferred to UNC after three seasons (he redshirted his true freshman year) at Ohio State. Thurman was a four-star prospect and was considered the fourth-best tight end prospect coming out of high school and has the size to be a receiving weapon (6’6”, 250 pounds). For whatever reason, he never truly broke out for the Buckeyes. Last season, he had seven catches for 84 yards and a touchdown for the year, despite appearing in all 14 games for Ohio State. The vast majority of that production came in a blowout win against Grambling. Part of this was probably opportunity; Thurman was competing for targets with Max Klare, who ended up getting drafted by the Rams in the second round. While my hopes that Bill Belichick has any college coaching chops are pretty faint, it’s worth noting that he (or his staff) has developed some very good tight ends over the course of his career. There’s a good chance he ends up as the TE1 on the roster this season. It’s also worth noting that Thurman was named to the Mackey Award Preseason Watch List; the Mackey Award is bestowed upon the top tight end in the country.
Jaxxon Warren: Speaking of size at the tight end position, Warren stands at 6’8” and also fits in the “more potential than results” category. In Warren’s case, it’s injuries that have derailed his career. He converted from a quarterback to a tight end when he joined Colorado State’s team after spending a year at a junior college; he missed his entire 2024 season due to surgeries related to a shoulder injury. He started the 2025 season out with a bang, reeling in six catches for 79 years and a TD against Washington before apparently suffering an injury against Northern Colorado. Warren wouldn’t play again for the Rams in 2025 and comes to Chapel Hill with three seasons of eligibility remaining. If he can stay healthy, he also has a chance of becoming a pass-catching option for the Heels.
Jordan Washington: Washington spent two seasons at Texas, redshirting his first year. He made a couple starts for the Longhorns in 2025 and recorded seven catches for 109 yards and a TD while serving more as a blocking tight end than an offensive weapon. From a physical standpoint, he has NFL stats: 6’4”, 264 pounds and 10.5” hands that would put him in the same category as some of the best that play on Sundays. In a recurring theme here, he was a four-star recruit coming out of high school that hasn’t quite hit his stride. On the field, he’s looked a bit slow and has a way to go in polishing his game int0 full-time starter, although he has the tools to do so. He should get some playing time for the Heels.
The Returnees
Deems May: May is a redshirt senior who missed his entire 2025 season due to injury. In 2024 he primarily was used on the special teams unit. May will have an uphill competing for playing time on offense and will likely reprise his special teams role this season — assuming he’s healthy.
Shamar Easter: If there’s a dark horse to emerge from the crowded tight end room, it’s probably Easter. The redshirt junior made a couple starts for the Heels last year and stuck around despite the roster turnover and lack of production from the tight end position. It’s possible the hiring of Bobby Petrino was a big reason why. Easter actually played under Petrino once already; Easter was a redshirt freshman on the 2023 Arkansas team for which Petrino served as the offensive coordinator. Easter also has talent; he was pretty highly recruited out of high school at the position, ranking as the sixth-best TE prospect that year by ESPN. While the transfers have gotten most of the attention, the tight end that stuck around could be the one who ends up with the expanded role this year.
The Freshmen
Dream Rashad and Carson Sneed: I’m lumping these guys together, as it’s likely neither have a huge impact in their freshman seasons. Rashad is a three-star recruit out of Georgia who played QB in high school and is converting to tight end in college. Sneed is also a three-star recruit who initially committed to play for Tennessee, then flipped to UNC when his brother, Dayton Sneed, transferred to the Heels. Either of these guys getting major playing time means either injuries have run rampant through the tight end room, or they were vastly underrated coming out of high school.
In conclusion, the tight end room for the Heels is short on past production but does have a lot of potential. Bobby Petrino is known for a lot of multiple-tight end sets, so there should be ample opportunities for both the transfers and Easter to get involved both catching passes and blocking for the run game. The room features a lot of size and athleticism at the position; and while overall this roster doesn’t feature a lot of talent, the tight end position could prove to be the exception to that. Of course, having a competent quarterback will factor heavily into the unit’s production and remains an unknown; another season of poor quarterback play probably means this position group collectively stays in the “unrealized potential” category.
