The annual East-West Shrine Bowl is an all-star event aimed to showcase the top players who are eligible to be a part of the 2026 NFL Draft class.
Ahead of the start of the 2025 season, a list of 1,000 players is created, noting who the top potential NFL targets could be in just a few months.
This year, the UNC football program had 9 players selected to the initial watch list.
There are quite a few first-year Tar Heels on the list, headlined by Thad Dixon. While five of the player selected are newcomers, four are returning players, including Marcus Allen, Austin Blaske, Kaleb Cost and Trevyon Green.