North Carolina’s Josh Downs (11) reacts after a touchdown pass reception from quarterback Jacolby Criswell (6) during the Tar Heels’ spring football game on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Robert Willett
rwillett@newsobserver.com
On this week’s ACC Now Podcast, The News & Observer’s Steve Wiseman is joined by Charlotte Observer reporter Langston Wertz for an NFL Draft discussion focusing on ACC prospects.
How many ACC players will be picked in the first round? Who will be the first ACC players selected? Will it be Clemson’s Myles Murphy or Bryan Bresee? Or Pittsburgh’s Calijah Kancey? Where will UNC wide receiver Josh Downs be drafted?
Steve Wiseman was named Raleigh News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun sports editor in May 2025. He covered Duke athletics, beginning in 2010, prior to his current assignment. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019, event coverage in 2025 and explanatory writing in 2018. Before coming to Durham in 2010, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989.