1. NC State has needed a wide receiver makeover, which looks like a three-year process, counting last year, this season and next year.
NC State went through a similar wide receiver crisis in 2013-15, when the Wolfpack went with a youth movement to mixed results. Bo Hines and Marquez Valdes-Scantling both transferred after 2014.
H-back Jaylen Samuels helped save the day in 2015 by being a true weapon in the passing game, but the receivers that year were JuMichael Ramos, Bra’Lon Cherry, Johnathan Alston and Nyheim Hines.
Kelvin Harmon arrived in 2016 and had 27 catches for 462 yards and five touchdowns, quarterback Jakobi Meyers switched to wide receiver and had 13 catches for 158 yards, and Hines caught 43 passes for 525 yards in the slot.
It wasn’t until 2017, where Harmon and Meyers fully emerged, to go with Samuels, that the passing game had weapons. Hines moved to running back full-time in 2017, and that gave a boost to the ground game. Stephen Louis was able to stay healthy as the third wide receiver and NC State had a vibrant offense yet again.
HIstory needs to repeat itself starting with the 2023 season. The Wolfpack now have the NIL money to do it after this past weekend.
With the Wolfpack flush with cash, it was able to get Rice transfer Bradley Rozner as a band-aid for this season. That NC State might have landed its best receiver for 2023 in mid-July, shows where the roster management can get improved.
Physically, the 6-5 Rozner is similar to former Duke/UCLA receiver Jake Bobo, who had a productive final three years of college football and is trying to make the Seattle Seahawks.
Now, NC State should be able to match anything either South Carolina or North Carolina can throw at senior targets Alex Taylor of Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley or Jonathan Paylor of Burlington (N.C.) Cummings. Some of the biggest reasons South Carolina has led for Paylor is due to NIL possibilities, the SEC and special teams coach Pete Lembo. The Gamecocks have been a machine in that NIL realm.
Now that NC State is right there from an NIL standpoint at this particular point in time, look how fast the perception have changed about Paylor to NC State on Aug. 5. Forgotten in all this is that Paylor has been to NC State close to 10 times (same for UNC), and you don’t check out a school that many times if you don’t like it and the people there. The Wolfpack have always been right there with Paylor (and Taylor), which is why they keep coming back to campus over and over again.
Taylor’s recruitment hasn’t been driven by NIL, but it sure is a nice cherry on top. He will pick among NC State, North Carolina and perhaps Clemson on July 29.
Clemson didn’t get super star five-star wide receiver/safety/basketball guard Mike Matthews of Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview High, who landed at Tennessee. Matthews was good enough to be the exception at wide receiver after the Tigers landed a pair of four stars. Now, will Taylor be considered good enough to be an exception or will CU circle back on him in October and try and get him to flip?
Tennessee landing Matthews gives them three wide receivers with four-star prospects Boo Carter of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Braylon Staley of Aiken, S.C., the others. If wide receiver Terrell Anderson of Grimsley held out a little hope about the Volunteers receiving numbers working out his way, we’ll see if that is the final dagger in that recruitment. Anderson has been talking about committing since early July, but if he’s going to wait this long, he might as well commit during Alpha Wolf on July 28, which goes back to last week’s topic of creating perceived momentum and buzz.
The last in-state receiver to make a decision is Shelby (N.C.) Crest High’s Javarius Green, and he’s picking among North Carolina, Michigan State and Alabama on Aug. 18. NC State will likely scramble for more wide receivers in the fall, or try to flip a prospect from a perceived weaker college.
2. The next step if NC State lands either Taylor or Paylor or both is developing them to their full potential.
Part of the recruiting problems at wide receiver stem from three areas — zero first-round picks at wide receiver since Koren Robinson in 2001, few current NFL wide receivers (Jakobi Meyers, maybe Thayer Thomas) and a hit or miss record on developing the four-star receivers that have signed.
NC State needs a modern Torry Holt and Jerricho Cotchery to point to in recruiting.
The Wolfpack have signed eight four-star wide receivers, though two of them ended up at running back.
Kevin Concepcion, 2023, Charlotte (N.C.) Chambers:
Concepcion is being counted upon as part of the youth movement in trying to revive NC State’s receivers. He picked NC State over North Carolina and was able to play in the slot or as an outside receiver at Chambers. He also was an effective punt returner. Maybe not the biggest receiver or the fastest, but is a gamer, which led to his four-star status.
Micah Crowell, 2021, Kernersville (N.C.) East Forsyth:
Crowell began his high school career with much promise, and his father played at Virginia and in the NFL. His older brother also signed with the Cavaliers. Crowell and his safety brother Isaiah Crowell both picked NC State. Micah Crowell missed a series of years due to injuries, and he was switched to running back last year.
Porter Rooks, 2020, Charlotte Myers Park:
Rooks essentially had offers from every school in the southeast but Clemson, and that was likely due to his older brother, Patrick Rooks, not working out well with the Tigers basketball program. Rooks committed early to NC State, but the class of 2020 was affected massively by the play on the field and numerous changes to the coaching staff. Rooks enters his junior year with 66 catches for 725 yards and one touchdown.
Antoine Thompson, 2017, Plant City (Fla.) High:
Thompson picked NC State over Arizona, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Florida and Central Florida. His college career was doomed from the start, where he blew out his knee in high school, then did it again at NC State after enrolling early, and then being a part of the infamous party that affected the impact of the class of 2017.
Kelvin Harmon, 2016, Palmyra (N.J.) High:
Harmon had picked South Carolina over NC State, but ended up with the Wolfpack after coach Steve Spurrier retired from the Gamecocks. Harmon proved from the start what a four-star receiver should be, and finished his three-year NCSU career with 177 catches for 2,665 yards and 16 touchdowns. He got drafted late, but his NFL career with the Washington Commanders never got untracked.
Anthony Creecy, 2010, Southern Durham (N.C.) High:
Creecy was one of the local must-get players and he was a quality wide receiver in high school, but no real running back experience. He played running back from the start at NC State, and he struggled running the ball but was a threat out of the backfield. He finished his four-year career with 324 carries for 1,265 yards and nine scores, and he caught 75 catches for 428 yards and six touchdowns.
Jay Smith, 2007, Norfolk (Va.) Lake Taylor High:
Smith picked NC State over offers from Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia and Virginia Tech. He had grown up in Raleigh, and even signed with the Wolfpack after a wonky ending. He picked NC State in November, decommitted after Chuck Amato was fired, and then committed to new coach Tom O’Brien. Smith finished with 62 catches for 612 yards and five touchdowns.
Richard Washington, 2002, Fort Myers (Fla.) High:
Washington has become a hero to many for his recent fight with cancer. He caught 73 passes for 848 yards and eight touchdowns in two years at NC State.
NC State went through a similar wide receiver crisis in 2013-15, when the Wolfpack went with a youth movement to mixed results. Bo Hines and Marquez Valdes-Scantling both transferred after 2014.
H-back Jaylen Samuels helped save the day in 2015 by being a true weapon in the passing game, but the receivers that year were JuMichael Ramos, Bra’Lon Cherry, Johnathan Alston and Nyheim Hines.
Kelvin Harmon arrived in 2016 and had 27 catches for 462 yards and five touchdowns, quarterback Jakobi Meyers switched to wide receiver and had 13 catches for 158 yards, and Hines caught 43 passes for 525 yards in the slot.
It wasn’t until 2017, where Harmon and Meyers fully emerged, to go with Samuels, that the passing game had weapons. Hines moved to running back full-time in 2017, and that gave a boost to the ground game. Stephen Louis was able to stay healthy as the third wide receiver and NC State had a vibrant offense yet again.
HIstory needs to repeat itself starting with the 2023 season. The Wolfpack now have the NIL money to do it after this past weekend.
With the Wolfpack flush with cash, it was able to get Rice transfer Bradley Rozner as a band-aid for this season. That NC State might have landed its best receiver for 2023 in mid-July, shows where the roster management can get improved.
Physically, the 6-5 Rozner is similar to former Duke/UCLA receiver Jake Bobo, who had a productive final three years of college football and is trying to make the Seattle Seahawks.
Now, NC State should be able to match anything either South Carolina or North Carolina can throw at senior targets Alex Taylor of Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley or Jonathan Paylor of Burlington (N.C.) Cummings. Some of the biggest reasons South Carolina has led for Paylor is due to NIL possibilities, the SEC and special teams coach Pete Lembo. The Gamecocks have been a machine in that NIL realm.
Now that NC State is right there from an NIL standpoint at this particular point in time, look how fast the perception have changed about Paylor to NC State on Aug. 5. Forgotten in all this is that Paylor has been to NC State close to 10 times (same for UNC), and you don’t check out a school that many times if you don’t like it and the people there. The Wolfpack have always been right there with Paylor (and Taylor), which is why they keep coming back to campus over and over again.
Taylor’s recruitment hasn’t been driven by NIL, but it sure is a nice cherry on top. He will pick among NC State, North Carolina and perhaps Clemson on July 29.
Clemson didn’t get super star five-star wide receiver/safety/basketball guard Mike Matthews of Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview High, who landed at Tennessee. Matthews was good enough to be the exception at wide receiver after the Tigers landed a pair of four stars. Now, will Taylor be considered good enough to be an exception or will CU circle back on him in October and try and get him to flip?
Tennessee landing Matthews gives them three wide receivers with four-star prospects Boo Carter of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Braylon Staley of Aiken, S.C., the others. If wide receiver Terrell Anderson of Grimsley held out a little hope about the Volunteers receiving numbers working out his way, we’ll see if that is the final dagger in that recruitment. Anderson has been talking about committing since early July, but if he’s going to wait this long, he might as well commit during Alpha Wolf on July 28, which goes back to last week’s topic of creating perceived momentum and buzz.
The last in-state receiver to make a decision is Shelby (N.C.) Crest High’s Javarius Green, and he’s picking among North Carolina, Michigan State and Alabama on Aug. 18. NC State will likely scramble for more wide receivers in the fall, or try to flip a prospect from a perceived weaker college.
2. The next step if NC State lands either Taylor or Paylor or both is developing them to their full potential.
Part of the recruiting problems at wide receiver stem from three areas — zero first-round picks at wide receiver since Koren Robinson in 2001, few current NFL wide receivers (Jakobi Meyers, maybe Thayer Thomas) and a hit or miss record on developing the four-star receivers that have signed.
NC State needs a modern Torry Holt and Jerricho Cotchery to point to in recruiting.
The Wolfpack have signed eight four-star wide receivers, though two of them ended up at running back.
Kevin Concepcion, 2023, Charlotte (N.C.) Chambers:
Concepcion is being counted upon as part of the youth movement in trying to revive NC State’s receivers. He picked NC State over North Carolina and was able to play in the slot or as an outside receiver at Chambers. He also was an effective punt returner. Maybe not the biggest receiver or the fastest, but is a gamer, which led to his four-star status.
Micah Crowell, 2021, Kernersville (N.C.) East Forsyth:
Crowell began his high school career with much promise, and his father played at Virginia and in the NFL. His older brother also signed with the Cavaliers. Crowell and his safety brother Isaiah Crowell both picked NC State. Micah Crowell missed a series of years due to injuries, and he was switched to running back last year.
Porter Rooks, 2020, Charlotte Myers Park:
Rooks essentially had offers from every school in the southeast but Clemson, and that was likely due to his older brother, Patrick Rooks, not working out well with the Tigers basketball program. Rooks committed early to NC State, but the class of 2020 was affected massively by the play on the field and numerous changes to the coaching staff. Rooks enters his junior year with 66 catches for 725 yards and one touchdown.
Antoine Thompson, 2017, Plant City (Fla.) High:
Thompson picked NC State over Arizona, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Florida and Central Florida. His college career was doomed from the start, where he blew out his knee in high school, then did it again at NC State after enrolling early, and then being a part of the infamous party that affected the impact of the class of 2017.
Kelvin Harmon, 2016, Palmyra (N.J.) High:
Harmon had picked South Carolina over NC State, but ended up with the Wolfpack after coach Steve Spurrier retired from the Gamecocks. Harmon proved from the start what a four-star receiver should be, and finished his three-year NCSU career with 177 catches for 2,665 yards and 16 touchdowns. He got drafted late, but his NFL career with the Washington Commanders never got untracked.
Anthony Creecy, 2010, Southern Durham (N.C.) High:
Creecy was one of the local must-get players and he was a quality wide receiver in high school, but no real running back experience. He played running back from the start at NC State, and he struggled running the ball but was a threat out of the backfield. He finished his four-year career with 324 carries for 1,265 yards and nine scores, and he caught 75 catches for 428 yards and six touchdowns.
Jay Smith, 2007, Norfolk (Va.) Lake Taylor High:
Smith picked NC State over offers from Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia and Virginia Tech. He had grown up in Raleigh, and even signed with the Wolfpack after a wonky ending. He picked NC State in November, decommitted after Chuck Amato was fired, and then committed to new coach Tom O’Brien. Smith finished with 62 catches for 612 yards and five touchdowns.
Richard Washington, 2002, Fort Myers (Fla.) High:
Washington has become a hero to many for his recent fight with cancer. He caught 73 passes for 848 yards and eight touchdowns in two years at NC State.
