On Thursday, we put out our best-guess depth chart for offense and defense. There is a sense of guarded optimism about the team but health may play a bigger role between good success or not. If NC State can stay healthy, some believe the Pack can approach last season’s success, at least.
However, there is a wide range of possibilities with this team, and a few injuries could send the Pack toward the lower end of that.
Now here are some notes from a position-by-position basis.
Quarterback: We expect redshirt freshman Matt McKay to be the backup quarterback, but we wouldn’t entirely sleep on walk-on Woody Cornwell either. The fifth-year senior is popular around the team and gained some nice experience over the summer with USA Football that went to China in June.
Running back: Our full expectation going into the season is that senior Reggie Gallaspy Jr. will be the workhorse running back for a variety of reasons. There seems to be genuine excitement for how well Gallaspy could do, although his running style will certainly be dramatically different from the home run abilities of Nyheim Hines last year. Some around the team firmly believe that a healthy Gallaspy is fully capable of extending the streak of consecutive seasons with a 1,000-yard running back to three. There is a feeling that Gallaspy has waited his turn and is ready. When he was a senior in high school, Gallaspy went out with a huge bang by rushing for over 3,000 yards. They hope history repeats itself.
We also talked with running backs coach Des Kitchings after practice Thursday, and he showed no concern at all with his position group. If anything he seemed excited about things.
The other reason why Gallaspy could get a heavier workload is the simple by product of some of the younger players not having a chance to get the reps in practice due to nagging injuries — notably the case for true freshmen Trent Pennix and Ricky Person Jr.
Wide receiver: No real surprises here as the rotation has basically been set since spring. The top three (fifth-year senior Stephen Louis, redshirt junior Jakobi Meyers and junior Kelvin Harmon) are going to get the lion’s share. There was some excitement with how well redshirt sophomore C.J. Riley was performing at the outset of camp as well, indicating that perhaps he is ready to make a nice jump although playing time may be limited given the starters.
Tight end: You almost get the feeling that some around the team are counting down when redshirt sophomore Cary Angeline will be eligible (first game will be at Marshall Sept. 22).
Offensive line: Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford did not tip his hand when we talked with him Thursday, but our expectation is that redshirt sophomore Justin Witt has the edge over redshirt junior Tyrone Riley at right tackle. To say that Ledford is excited about where his unit stands at this point might be an understatement. He was particular pumped by how well his three fifth-year starting seniors have done, notably center Garrett Bradbury.
Defensive line: There is a growing level of comfort with the interior of the line thanks to the emergence of redshirt junior Larrell Murchison in preseason camp. If you have followed The Wolfpacker for a while, you know that both of us (Matt and Jacey) have preached that the second year for a junior college player in football shows a noticeable jump from the first year. Fortunately for NCSU it had the luxury of redshirting Murchison last fall.
With redshirt sophomore Shug Frazier returning from his toe injury and a pair of four-star rookies in redshirt freshman Grant Gibson and true freshman Alim McNeill filling out the rotation, the inside looks okay.
The edge outside of the starters — senior Darian Roseboro and redshirt junior James Smith-Williams — is one of the bigger question marks on the team as it appears most of the freshmen need more time. The only true freshman we could see playing is Joseph Boletepeli, and it sounds like redshirt freshman Xavier Lyas might need some more time. It also sounded like junior Joe Babros, a junior college transfer could be another case of where the first year at a new school is a bit of a transitional period.
The move of redshirt freshman Ibrahim Kante from inside back to end where he was originally recruited and redshirted last year, is an indication of both how well Kante has looked in preseason camp and the need to try to find some players to fill out the depth on the edge.
It should be noted that a healthy fifth-year senior Deonte Holden could be a wildcard. He has barely played in his career but that’s almost entirely due to injuries.
Linebacker: We honestly don’t know how it’s going to play out between sophomore Louis Acceus and redshirt freshman Isaiah Moore in the middle, but fully expect a rotation there regardless. Another expectation from those around the team: that Pratt has a chance to make himself a lot of money this fall.
However, there is a wide range of possibilities with this team, and a few injuries could send the Pack toward the lower end of that.
Now here are some notes from a position-by-position basis.
Quarterback: We expect redshirt freshman Matt McKay to be the backup quarterback, but we wouldn’t entirely sleep on walk-on Woody Cornwell either. The fifth-year senior is popular around the team and gained some nice experience over the summer with USA Football that went to China in June.
Running back: Our full expectation going into the season is that senior Reggie Gallaspy Jr. will be the workhorse running back for a variety of reasons. There seems to be genuine excitement for how well Gallaspy could do, although his running style will certainly be dramatically different from the home run abilities of Nyheim Hines last year. Some around the team firmly believe that a healthy Gallaspy is fully capable of extending the streak of consecutive seasons with a 1,000-yard running back to three. There is a feeling that Gallaspy has waited his turn and is ready. When he was a senior in high school, Gallaspy went out with a huge bang by rushing for over 3,000 yards. They hope history repeats itself.
We also talked with running backs coach Des Kitchings after practice Thursday, and he showed no concern at all with his position group. If anything he seemed excited about things.
The other reason why Gallaspy could get a heavier workload is the simple by product of some of the younger players not having a chance to get the reps in practice due to nagging injuries — notably the case for true freshmen Trent Pennix and Ricky Person Jr.
Wide receiver: No real surprises here as the rotation has basically been set since spring. The top three (fifth-year senior Stephen Louis, redshirt junior Jakobi Meyers and junior Kelvin Harmon) are going to get the lion’s share. There was some excitement with how well redshirt sophomore C.J. Riley was performing at the outset of camp as well, indicating that perhaps he is ready to make a nice jump although playing time may be limited given the starters.
Tight end: You almost get the feeling that some around the team are counting down when redshirt sophomore Cary Angeline will be eligible (first game will be at Marshall Sept. 22).
Offensive line: Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford did not tip his hand when we talked with him Thursday, but our expectation is that redshirt sophomore Justin Witt has the edge over redshirt junior Tyrone Riley at right tackle. To say that Ledford is excited about where his unit stands at this point might be an understatement. He was particular pumped by how well his three fifth-year starting seniors have done, notably center Garrett Bradbury.
Defensive line: There is a growing level of comfort with the interior of the line thanks to the emergence of redshirt junior Larrell Murchison in preseason camp. If you have followed The Wolfpacker for a while, you know that both of us (Matt and Jacey) have preached that the second year for a junior college player in football shows a noticeable jump from the first year. Fortunately for NCSU it had the luxury of redshirting Murchison last fall.
With redshirt sophomore Shug Frazier returning from his toe injury and a pair of four-star rookies in redshirt freshman Grant Gibson and true freshman Alim McNeill filling out the rotation, the inside looks okay.
The edge outside of the starters — senior Darian Roseboro and redshirt junior James Smith-Williams — is one of the bigger question marks on the team as it appears most of the freshmen need more time. The only true freshman we could see playing is Joseph Boletepeli, and it sounds like redshirt freshman Xavier Lyas might need some more time. It also sounded like junior Joe Babros, a junior college transfer could be another case of where the first year at a new school is a bit of a transitional period.
The move of redshirt freshman Ibrahim Kante from inside back to end where he was originally recruited and redshirted last year, is an indication of both how well Kante has looked in preseason camp and the need to try to find some players to fill out the depth on the edge.
It should be noted that a healthy fifth-year senior Deonte Holden could be a wildcard. He has barely played in his career but that’s almost entirely due to injuries.
Linebacker: We honestly don’t know how it’s going to play out between sophomore Louis Acceus and redshirt freshman Isaiah Moore in the middle, but fully expect a rotation there regardless. Another expectation from those around the team: that Pratt has a chance to make himself a lot of money this fall.
