Tar Heels NFL Draft Preview: Nick Weiler

Now that both the football and basketball seasons are over, we’re kind of in offseason mode. Instead of sitting around waiting for next weekend’s baseball games, it’s time to think about the NFL Draft. The 2017 NFL Draft will take place between April 27 and 29, and North Carolina has a few players who are eligible for selection. One of those players is kicker Nick Weiler.

While he isn’t one of the better players expected to be on the boards, Weiler is a memorable one for UNC fans. The six-foot, 190-pound kicker from Fairfax Station, Virginia had been a member of the team from 2013 through the 2016 season. Over the course of his collegiate career, Weiler spent time as the kickoff specialist, punter, and place-kicker.

During his time at North Carolina, he averaged 97.5% extra points made and 76.9% field goals made. In 2015, he had a career high 87% field goals made and 100% extra points made. Some of his numbers regressed in 2016, but Tar Heel fans will forever remember this year for his remarkable 54-yard field goal to defeat Florida State on October 1, 2016.

Weiler graduates as arguably the best kicker in team history after breaking the single-season scoring record and single-season extra point record. He also has the third-most field goals made in a single season. He was named to the All-ACC third team in 2015 and was an honorable mention in 2016. Weiler was also a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award for the nation’s top kicker and was named to the watch list at the beginning of the year.

In the lead-up to this year’s draft, CBS has ranked him 763 overall and the 10th-best kicker. Only Zane Gonzalez from Arizona State, Jake Elliot from Memphis, and Adam Griffith from Alabama are projected to be drafted, but it’s not out of the question that a team will give Weiler a chance to impress in camp. No matter what happens to him from this point on, it won’t change how he went out at the top of his game with the Heels.