Best college football players of all time from every state

North Carolina – Julius Peppers

It’s no secret that Julius Peppers, a native of Wilson, North Carolina, is one of the best defensive players to ever step foot on a college football field. Peppers was one of the fewer players on this list that decided to stay at home, despite a large number of out-of-state offers in high school and starred for the Tar Hels from 1999-2001.

Peppers was an automatic impact, making the Freshman All-American team, in a season where he led UNC with six sacks and ten tackles that went for a loss, recording a reception and recovering his own forced fumble.

Peppers was once again a ridiculous performer in his sophomore and junior seasons. His sophomore year, he led the nation with 15 sacks, landing him one shy of a school record on the way to All-American honors from many voting outlets.

In his time with the Tar Heels, Peppers also intercepted three passes as a junior (a higher total than any other defensive lineman in the nation), returning one for a touchdown. Also, in his junior season, Peppers recorded 9.5 sacks, earned unanimous All-American honors, secured the Bednarik Award and won the Lombardi Award as well.

Peppers set the school record for tackles for loss with 57 and landed at second for career sacks with 30.5. Peppers was taken by (perfectly enough) the Carolina Panthers with the No. 2 pick in the 2002 NFL Draft.