Billy Edwards

The story isn't the stat line; it's the survival. Edwards arrived at Wisconsin as the answer, then a Grade 3 PCL sprain in the 2025 opener ended his year after just two games and 16 throws. A medical redshirt and a sixth season later, he's a Tar Heel — and through spring, the message from beat writers was blunt: he opened practice as the early QB1 in what's been called the most-watched position battle in the ACC, taking first-team reps in Belichick's offense.

The tension is real, though. Belichick's debut went 6-7, and the discourse around year two is openly about whether he can coach college ball without Tom Brady. UNC's room is loud underneath Edwards: Texas A&M transfer Miles O'Neill (6-foot-5, flashing what observers called elite arm talent in 7-on-7s) and true freshman Travis Burgess are pushing the ceiling, while writers keep landing on the same phrase about Edwards — highest floor, if not the highest ceiling. That's the bet: not the most upside, the most certainty, for a program that had none last year.

The receipts that matter aren't from 2025 — they're from 2024 at Maryland, where he was the full-time starter and finished second in the Big Ten in passing yards per game. The 2026 question the boards keep circling: can a 25-year-old on his third roster, one wrecked knee removed from football, give Belichick the steadiness his first season never found?