Did program's disarray cost Tar Heels in NFL draft?

The NFL draft concluded on Saturday after only two of North Carolina’s prospects – defensive end Quinton Coples and linebacker Zach Brown – were selected. Dwight Jones, the wide receiver, ended the draft on the outside looking in. So, too, did cornerback Charles Brown. And defensive tackle Tydreke Powell. And Donte Paige-Moss, the defensive lineman who left school early to enter the draft.

Even Coples and Brown went lower than they likely expected they would – Coples at No. 16 overall to the New York Jets, and Brown in the second round, at the 52nd overall pick, to the Tennessee Titans. If you followed the draft at all, you know that NFL personnel types shared similar concerns about Coples and Brown, both. In fact, you could have learned that simply by reading the NFL’s official website.

NFL.com broke down just about every player, anywhere, who had the potential to be selected in the draft. The profiles included an overview and a paragraph of strengths and weaknesses for each player. How strange is it that for both Coples and Brown, the word “disappear” showed up under both players’ listed weaknesses?

For Coples, the first couple sentences explaining his weaknesses read like this: “Coples' motor was the only question mark throughout his collegiate career. At times, he disappeared from the action.”

For Brown, the first couple sentences explaining his weaknesses read like this: “Despite his talent, there are questions surrounding other aspects of Brown's game and life. He has shown a tendency to disappear for long stretches.”

Both players possessed first-round talent. And at one time, Coples was projected as a top-10 selection. But neither Coples nor Brown went as high as their ability suggested they could – or should – have gone.

Questions about each player’s motivation and consistency helped to push them down in the draft. Both players had their share of dominant games during their years with the Tar Heels. But those games were mixed in among others in which they took plays off or disappeared for long stretches.

It’s not a reach to suggest that UNC’s coaching transition didn’t help Coples and Brown. Amid all the uncertainty that surrounded the Tar Heels in 2011, it makes sense that players might not have been as motivated after Everett Withers took over on an interim basis for the fired Butch Davis. On a deeper level, though, the slide of Coples and Brown in the draft could be evidence of issues that might have plagued the program under Davis. Coples and Brown didn’t learn to take plays off until their final seasons, of course. They learned the habits that cost them positioning in the draft under Davis’ watch.

And what does it say, too, that none of UNC’s other draftable players were drafted? Jones, the receiver who caught 85 passes for nearly 1,200 yards, was once seen as a likely second- or third-round pick. Yet he fell completely out of the draft. Paige-Moss, a talented but inconsistent player who left school early, never heard his name called. Ditto for Brown and Powell.

Some of UNC’s undrafted players have already signed as free agents with various teams. The list:

WR Dwight Jones – Houston Texans

C Cameron Holland – Kansas City Chiefs

CB Charles Brown – Baltimore Ravens

S Matt Merletti – Indianapolis Colts

DT Tydreke Powell – Minnesota Vikings

But the lack of Tar Heels’ draftees speaks to a program that had been in disarray for a long time. It can’t be argued that some of UNC’s undrafted players are as talented as many of those drafted in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds on Saturday.

NFL teams, though, like prospects who come from respected and reputable college programs. And sure, if teams thought that UNC’s former players were good enough to be drafted, they would have been. But the instability that hung over the Tar Heels for two seasons didn’t help. And that likely cost the Tar Heels on draft day.

-- Andrew Carter