1. NC State has had a small running back board throughout the past year.
Part of that is the state of North Carolina doesn’t have many Division I running backs. The top three are Daylan Smothers of West Charlotte (N.C.) High, Kyron Jones of Charlotte Christian and JT Smith of Cornelius (N.C.) Hough. NC State went all in on Smothers from the beginning, offered Jones in June and has evaluated and kept warm Smith.
Smothers is a solid running back, but because he was the main choice, maybe the hype on him went to new levels. Smothers picked Oklahoma over NC State, Alabama and Florida State. He did tell sources that if something goes wrong with the Sooners in the future, the Wolfpack were his runner-up choice.
Normally, in recruitments where NC State goes all in on a player at a certain position, it’s hard to pivot to a plan B who is just as good. I am going half-glass full on this one and say that NC State can find a quality running back (or two).
Jones will be coming to Alpha Wolf at the end of the month and has locked in an official visit for Sept. 16-18, when Texas Tech is coming to town. Duke, UConn, Air Force and Iowa State are his other main choices.
Besides Jones, who is a big-play threat with elite speed, the other running back in the mix is Jamarion Wilcox of Douglasville (Ga.) South Paulding High, and he’s pretty dang good.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pounder is a complete back who has the gift of making quick cuts to make defenders miss, can slip away from tacklers and has enough speed to get upfield. Wilcox appears to be a 20-plus carries a game running back, where Jones will probably be more of a 10-15 touches kind of back. There is a lot to get excited about with Wilcox's film.
Wilcox has been relatively quiet during his recruitment, but did unofficially visit NC State in late June. He has offers from high major colleges such as NC State, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas State, Louisville, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Smothers is a little over 5-10 and 173 pounds at the moment, and that is always going to make running between the tackles harder. I have long predicted that NC State will continue to recruit Smothers regardless of Thursday’s decision, and getting his close friend Kevin Concepcion of Charlotte Chambers would help in that regard.
2. Concepcion appears to be the next big decision on the horizon, with Aug. 6 as a decision date.
The other possibilities for July decisions have started to dry up.
Tight end CJ Jacobsen of Meridian (Idaho) Rocky Mountain High will be going to Oregon on July 30, so that recruitment has slowed down.
Outside linebacker Stanquan Clark of Miami (Fla.) Killian High has given no inkling of a decision coming soon, with Louisville and Kentucky giving chase.
Concepcion has been on a fast track for a decision after officially visiting NC State and North Carolina. The Wolfpack have done a textbook job on the versatile four-star prospect, targeting him early, getting him on campus numerous times and he’s become friends with other Wolfpack commits, particularly quarterback Lex Thomas. He’s in Beaufort, N.C., with Thomas on Thursday.
Concepcion might not have great size or fancy track times, but he’s a gamer and has a clutch gene about him, which has been evident in many big games with Charlotte Chambers High. With NC State not having any wide receiver commits, there is a clear path for early playing time for Concepcion.
North Carolina jumped in later on Concepcion compared to other colleges, but he’s always liked the Tar Heels. UNC has already landed wide receivers Chris Culliver of Maiden (N.C.) High and Christian Hamilton of Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge, and Hamilton is more of a slot type like Concepcion.
Concepcion joins NC State offensive line commit Kamen Smith and UNC offensive line commit Robert Grigsby in being the rare recruitments that come down to the two rivals.
3. There is a very good chance that 21 of the top 24 seniors in the state of North Carolina have picked a college by the time opening night comes Aug. 19.
Smothers went off the board Thursday, and Hickory (N.C.) High defensive end Rico Walker and Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley nose tackle Jamaal Jarrett will announce July 18 and July 19 respectively. The massive 6-6, 350-pound Jarrett is ranked No. 1, and likely headed to Georgia. Walker is No. 7 and has kept people guessing for months, but could be a UNC lean.
No. 9-ranked Concepcion could decide around Aug. 6, and No. 10-ranked Daevin Hobbs of Concord (N.C.) Robinson will announce Aug. 1. Concepcion is down to NC State and UNC, and Hobbs has North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and Michigan.
The three others members in the top 20 have not made announcements dates — No. 13 safety Chris Peal of Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day, No. 15 wide receiver Nathan Leacock of Raleigh Millbrook and No. 17 athlete Grant Tucker of Charlotte Christian. Peal and Leacock are further down the road in recruiting than Tucker, who could use his senior year to regain the weight he lost during track season and improve his stock.
Peal has always liked NC State, but the perception is that he likes Georgia more. It’s also been clear that he has kept recruiting at arms length. The popular top three has been Georgia, NC State and South Carolina. What has helped him out is impressive track marks.
Nothing has changed with Leacock since last week’s The Run Down. Tennessee, NC State, North Carolina and Michigan are his top four, and the Volunteers could be the clubhouse leader.
Tucker has officially visited Georgia Tech, and he camped at NC State, where he ran a blazing 4.49-second 40-yard dash at 6-3. Some schools like him at wide receiver and others see him on defense.
Part of that is the state of North Carolina doesn’t have many Division I running backs. The top three are Daylan Smothers of West Charlotte (N.C.) High, Kyron Jones of Charlotte Christian and JT Smith of Cornelius (N.C.) Hough. NC State went all in on Smothers from the beginning, offered Jones in June and has evaluated and kept warm Smith.
Smothers is a solid running back, but because he was the main choice, maybe the hype on him went to new levels. Smothers picked Oklahoma over NC State, Alabama and Florida State. He did tell sources that if something goes wrong with the Sooners in the future, the Wolfpack were his runner-up choice.
Normally, in recruitments where NC State goes all in on a player at a certain position, it’s hard to pivot to a plan B who is just as good. I am going half-glass full on this one and say that NC State can find a quality running back (or two).
Jones will be coming to Alpha Wolf at the end of the month and has locked in an official visit for Sept. 16-18, when Texas Tech is coming to town. Duke, UConn, Air Force and Iowa State are his other main choices.
Besides Jones, who is a big-play threat with elite speed, the other running back in the mix is Jamarion Wilcox of Douglasville (Ga.) South Paulding High, and he’s pretty dang good.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pounder is a complete back who has the gift of making quick cuts to make defenders miss, can slip away from tacklers and has enough speed to get upfield. Wilcox appears to be a 20-plus carries a game running back, where Jones will probably be more of a 10-15 touches kind of back. There is a lot to get excited about with Wilcox's film.
Wilcox has been relatively quiet during his recruitment, but did unofficially visit NC State in late June. He has offers from high major colleges such as NC State, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas State, Louisville, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Smothers is a little over 5-10 and 173 pounds at the moment, and that is always going to make running between the tackles harder. I have long predicted that NC State will continue to recruit Smothers regardless of Thursday’s decision, and getting his close friend Kevin Concepcion of Charlotte Chambers would help in that regard.
2. Concepcion appears to be the next big decision on the horizon, with Aug. 6 as a decision date.
The other possibilities for July decisions have started to dry up.
Tight end CJ Jacobsen of Meridian (Idaho) Rocky Mountain High will be going to Oregon on July 30, so that recruitment has slowed down.
Outside linebacker Stanquan Clark of Miami (Fla.) Killian High has given no inkling of a decision coming soon, with Louisville and Kentucky giving chase.
Concepcion has been on a fast track for a decision after officially visiting NC State and North Carolina. The Wolfpack have done a textbook job on the versatile four-star prospect, targeting him early, getting him on campus numerous times and he’s become friends with other Wolfpack commits, particularly quarterback Lex Thomas. He’s in Beaufort, N.C., with Thomas on Thursday.
Concepcion might not have great size or fancy track times, but he’s a gamer and has a clutch gene about him, which has been evident in many big games with Charlotte Chambers High. With NC State not having any wide receiver commits, there is a clear path for early playing time for Concepcion.
North Carolina jumped in later on Concepcion compared to other colleges, but he’s always liked the Tar Heels. UNC has already landed wide receivers Chris Culliver of Maiden (N.C.) High and Christian Hamilton of Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge, and Hamilton is more of a slot type like Concepcion.
Concepcion joins NC State offensive line commit Kamen Smith and UNC offensive line commit Robert Grigsby in being the rare recruitments that come down to the two rivals.
3. There is a very good chance that 21 of the top 24 seniors in the state of North Carolina have picked a college by the time opening night comes Aug. 19.
Smothers went off the board Thursday, and Hickory (N.C.) High defensive end Rico Walker and Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley nose tackle Jamaal Jarrett will announce July 18 and July 19 respectively. The massive 6-6, 350-pound Jarrett is ranked No. 1, and likely headed to Georgia. Walker is No. 7 and has kept people guessing for months, but could be a UNC lean.
No. 9-ranked Concepcion could decide around Aug. 6, and No. 10-ranked Daevin Hobbs of Concord (N.C.) Robinson will announce Aug. 1. Concepcion is down to NC State and UNC, and Hobbs has North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and Michigan.
The three others members in the top 20 have not made announcements dates — No. 13 safety Chris Peal of Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day, No. 15 wide receiver Nathan Leacock of Raleigh Millbrook and No. 17 athlete Grant Tucker of Charlotte Christian. Peal and Leacock are further down the road in recruiting than Tucker, who could use his senior year to regain the weight he lost during track season and improve his stock.
Peal has always liked NC State, but the perception is that he likes Georgia more. It’s also been clear that he has kept recruiting at arms length. The popular top three has been Georgia, NC State and South Carolina. What has helped him out is impressive track marks.
Nothing has changed with Leacock since last week’s The Run Down. Tennessee, NC State, North Carolina and Michigan are his top four, and the Volunteers could be the clubhouse leader.
Tucker has officially visited Georgia Tech, and he camped at NC State, where he ran a blazing 4.49-second 40-yard dash at 6-3. Some schools like him at wide receiver and others see him on defense.
