1. All eyes will be on Coastal Carolina quarterback transfer Grayson McCall this spring and fall.
I went back and watched some video of McCall from his senior year because he suffered his serious concussion that ended his season six games early.
What former NC State offensive coordinator and current Coastal Carolina coach Tim Beck did with McCall was sort of have him be a proverbial point guard. I call McCall a 40-yards and in type of quarterback, similar to say Ryan Finley, but not quite like Devin Leary when it comes to arm strength of recent NCSU quarterbacks. I do think he has more zip than say Brennan Armstrong does.
The point guard comparison is that McCall’s gift is that he get the ball and wants to spread the wealth offensively. Sometimes it is a touch pass 20 yards downfield, or he’ll dump it off to a back in the flat. Is he the kind of quarterback that can let it rip 60 yards in the air downfield to Noah Rogers? Probably not, and Rogers will have to adjust to that (or wait until Cedrick Bailey is under center one day).
What McCall can do is take little passes to say Concepcion and Paylor and get eight yards here, 12 yards there or maybe they slip some tackles and take off for bigger gains. He is also pretty impressive rolling out to his right and being accurate while throwing on the run.
You look at McCall’s longest pass play in his seven games played this season, and they ranged from 33 yards to 63 yards. He had one volume receiver with Sam Pinckney getting 71 catches in 2022, but then another receiver had 49 in Jared Brown and Tyson Mobley had 40, so it goes back to spreading the ball around.
Georgia Southern must have had one heck of a game plan to get four interceptions against him. I mentioned rolling right earlier, one of the interceptions against Georgia Southern, he rolled left, tried to throw against his body and didn’t have much on the throw. For a veteran quarterback, he should have just threw it out of bounds or run toward the sideline.
The second interception, the pass sailed high and the defensive back made a heck of a grab. The third interception, his pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and returned for a pick six. The fourth interception happened with 12 seconds left in the game, so it didn’t affect the game in any way.
The big question that remains to be seen is how much will McCall run? His a solid runner, but he’s running statistics dipped in both 2021 and 2022, and then under Beck, bottomed out at 0.9 yards per carry.
There is no question that offensive coordinator Robert Anae likes a running quarterback, but also adapts. The aforementioned Bailey might not be a runner, but then junior quarterback commit Will Wilson is. With McCall’s complicated injury history combined with no proven backup at the moment, running much might not be in the cards for McCall at NC State.
2. Is the heralded return home of wide receiver Rogers and running back Daylan Smothers going to impact any of the 2025 recruits? I’d say not likely, but more so there isn’t one player directly tied to them.
What I do think can happen is with Rogers, Smothers, signee Jonathan Paylor and current freshman Kevin Concepcion, they could make a direct impact on one player in particular — Reidsville (N.C.) High sophomore tight end Kendre’ Harrison.
Harrison’s uncle is former NC State basketball player C.C. Harrison (1994-98) and his cousin is current junior combo guard Breon Pass. However, despite those connections he grew up a Duke basketball fan.
Harrison also leaned to North Carolina when it came to in-state schools in football. That reason was simple — the Tar Heels featured the tight end. The trio of Bryson Nesbit, John Copenhaver and Kendre Morales combined for 70 catches for 1,022 yards and nine touchdowns. NC State’s tight ends Trent Pennix and Javonte Vereen (if you want to call him a tight end) combined for 19 catches for 255 yards and three scores. NC State instead showed film of Jelani Woods of Virginia to Harrison.
Harrison is that unique athlete where if he wanted to be an all-league caliber defensive end in college one day, he could. If he wanted to be a lunch-pail, garbage guy power forward at 6-6, 6-7 and 237 pounds, he could. That’s been obvious since I first watched him play basketball in May of his eighth-grade year, and then football as a freshman at Reidsville. We’ll have a scouting video package soon with a recent hoops game and two football games from his sophomore year, including the state title win over Clinton.
NC State will incorporate UConn transfer Johnny Joly into the passing game this season, but the hype about Rogers, Smothers, Paylor and Concepcion, will make it cool to want to consider NC State with this vaunted class of 2026 coming up. That is where it will impact Harrison, who didn’t have NC State in his ever-changing top five in September or October, but likely does now.
Alabama will have a new coach, and FSU, Tennessee and Georgia have laid the groundwork with Harrison. Clemson hasn’t yet, but it will be interesting to see if that changes. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame will probably also make his list one day.
3. January is traditionally one of the months where players go on runs for offers. It will be interesting to see what NC State does with junior defensive back Jakarrion Kenan of Clinton (N.C.) High.
Kenan is my pick for a player to go from unknown to known over the next few months with Junior Days coming up. He’ll be at NC State on Jan. 20, and also is going to West Virginia.
Part of it is that he’s really good and the second part is Clinton knows how to promote its players to college coaches and the media — see star defensive end Amaris Williams, who ended up at Auburn.
Kenan finished his junior year with 24 catches for 600 yards and eight touchdowns, plus 21 tackles, six tackles for loss, five interceptions and a sack on defense. He had four tackles and a pass broken up in the state title game loss against Reidsville High. I was able to watch him against Elizabeth City (N.C.) Northeastern in the NCHSAA 2A regional final and then against Reidsville at Carter-Finley Stadium. It’s easier for gurus to be ahead of college coaches in basketball recruiting, but Kenan might be a good example of believing in him before the colleges come along. NC State has home-state advantage and watched him vs. Reidsville, so there won't be too much guess work with him.
Kenan proved he plays with an edge and is solidly built at 6-1 and 170 pounds. He could be ideal for the nickel role at NCSU or free safety, and his ability to go up and make a catch on offense will help him on defense.
I don’t know if Kenan has some track times, but schools might wait until June camps, and he could have that wave of offers then. He self-reports a 4.49-second 40-yard dash, which if true, further solidifies that he could end up being a major target for the Wolfpack one day.
Clinton junior defensive end Josiah Dwyer is the other player coming up in the pipeline, but he might not have the size for NC State’s 3-3-5 defensive scheme.
I went back and watched some video of McCall from his senior year because he suffered his serious concussion that ended his season six games early.
What former NC State offensive coordinator and current Coastal Carolina coach Tim Beck did with McCall was sort of have him be a proverbial point guard. I call McCall a 40-yards and in type of quarterback, similar to say Ryan Finley, but not quite like Devin Leary when it comes to arm strength of recent NCSU quarterbacks. I do think he has more zip than say Brennan Armstrong does.
The point guard comparison is that McCall’s gift is that he get the ball and wants to spread the wealth offensively. Sometimes it is a touch pass 20 yards downfield, or he’ll dump it off to a back in the flat. Is he the kind of quarterback that can let it rip 60 yards in the air downfield to Noah Rogers? Probably not, and Rogers will have to adjust to that (or wait until Cedrick Bailey is under center one day).
What McCall can do is take little passes to say Concepcion and Paylor and get eight yards here, 12 yards there or maybe they slip some tackles and take off for bigger gains. He is also pretty impressive rolling out to his right and being accurate while throwing on the run.
You look at McCall’s longest pass play in his seven games played this season, and they ranged from 33 yards to 63 yards. He had one volume receiver with Sam Pinckney getting 71 catches in 2022, but then another receiver had 49 in Jared Brown and Tyson Mobley had 40, so it goes back to spreading the ball around.
Georgia Southern must have had one heck of a game plan to get four interceptions against him. I mentioned rolling right earlier, one of the interceptions against Georgia Southern, he rolled left, tried to throw against his body and didn’t have much on the throw. For a veteran quarterback, he should have just threw it out of bounds or run toward the sideline.
The second interception, the pass sailed high and the defensive back made a heck of a grab. The third interception, his pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and returned for a pick six. The fourth interception happened with 12 seconds left in the game, so it didn’t affect the game in any way.
The big question that remains to be seen is how much will McCall run? His a solid runner, but he’s running statistics dipped in both 2021 and 2022, and then under Beck, bottomed out at 0.9 yards per carry.
There is no question that offensive coordinator Robert Anae likes a running quarterback, but also adapts. The aforementioned Bailey might not be a runner, but then junior quarterback commit Will Wilson is. With McCall’s complicated injury history combined with no proven backup at the moment, running much might not be in the cards for McCall at NC State.
2. Is the heralded return home of wide receiver Rogers and running back Daylan Smothers going to impact any of the 2025 recruits? I’d say not likely, but more so there isn’t one player directly tied to them.
What I do think can happen is with Rogers, Smothers, signee Jonathan Paylor and current freshman Kevin Concepcion, they could make a direct impact on one player in particular — Reidsville (N.C.) High sophomore tight end Kendre’ Harrison.
Harrison’s uncle is former NC State basketball player C.C. Harrison (1994-98) and his cousin is current junior combo guard Breon Pass. However, despite those connections he grew up a Duke basketball fan.
Harrison also leaned to North Carolina when it came to in-state schools in football. That reason was simple — the Tar Heels featured the tight end. The trio of Bryson Nesbit, John Copenhaver and Kendre Morales combined for 70 catches for 1,022 yards and nine touchdowns. NC State’s tight ends Trent Pennix and Javonte Vereen (if you want to call him a tight end) combined for 19 catches for 255 yards and three scores. NC State instead showed film of Jelani Woods of Virginia to Harrison.
Harrison is that unique athlete where if he wanted to be an all-league caliber defensive end in college one day, he could. If he wanted to be a lunch-pail, garbage guy power forward at 6-6, 6-7 and 237 pounds, he could. That’s been obvious since I first watched him play basketball in May of his eighth-grade year, and then football as a freshman at Reidsville. We’ll have a scouting video package soon with a recent hoops game and two football games from his sophomore year, including the state title win over Clinton.
NC State will incorporate UConn transfer Johnny Joly into the passing game this season, but the hype about Rogers, Smothers, Paylor and Concepcion, will make it cool to want to consider NC State with this vaunted class of 2026 coming up. That is where it will impact Harrison, who didn’t have NC State in his ever-changing top five in September or October, but likely does now.
Alabama will have a new coach, and FSU, Tennessee and Georgia have laid the groundwork with Harrison. Clemson hasn’t yet, but it will be interesting to see if that changes. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame will probably also make his list one day.
3. January is traditionally one of the months where players go on runs for offers. It will be interesting to see what NC State does with junior defensive back Jakarrion Kenan of Clinton (N.C.) High.
Kenan is my pick for a player to go from unknown to known over the next few months with Junior Days coming up. He’ll be at NC State on Jan. 20, and also is going to West Virginia.
Part of it is that he’s really good and the second part is Clinton knows how to promote its players to college coaches and the media — see star defensive end Amaris Williams, who ended up at Auburn.
Kenan finished his junior year with 24 catches for 600 yards and eight touchdowns, plus 21 tackles, six tackles for loss, five interceptions and a sack on defense. He had four tackles and a pass broken up in the state title game loss against Reidsville High. I was able to watch him against Elizabeth City (N.C.) Northeastern in the NCHSAA 2A regional final and then against Reidsville at Carter-Finley Stadium. It’s easier for gurus to be ahead of college coaches in basketball recruiting, but Kenan might be a good example of believing in him before the colleges come along. NC State has home-state advantage and watched him vs. Reidsville, so there won't be too much guess work with him.
Kenan proved he plays with an edge and is solidly built at 6-1 and 170 pounds. He could be ideal for the nickel role at NCSU or free safety, and his ability to go up and make a catch on offense will help him on defense.
I don’t know if Kenan has some track times, but schools might wait until June camps, and he could have that wave of offers then. He self-reports a 4.49-second 40-yard dash, which if true, further solidifies that he could end up being a major target for the Wolfpack one day.
Clinton junior defensive end Josiah Dwyer is the other player coming up in the pipeline, but he might not have the size for NC State’s 3-3-5 defensive scheme.
