NC State freshmen all reported in June, with junior college transfer Daris Workman being the last to report after getting his transcripts cleared. The entire team was back after the Fourth of July holiday for a cookout this past week, and players will be organizing their own activities to get ready for the start of camp, which is less than a month away.
One area of major focus from what we have gathered from multiple sources is clearly wide receiver. While incoming freshman Nyheim Hines will get time out in the slot, how much remains to be seen. A lot will depend on how much Hines can handle as the staff is going to be reluctant to overload his responsibilities. Hines will get a chance to win the return duties and he will also be in the running backs room, so he is already tackling a lot right off the bat.
However, there is hope that the other three freshmen enrolled can help. They really like the speed that Brian Sessoms and Vernon Grier can bring, and long-striding Freddie Simmons has deceptive speed himself and is a good overall athlete.
***
Expanding on the potential impact of the newcomers in the wide receiver corps, here are some thoughts from first-year wideouts coach George McDonald on the group of signees and redshirt freshmen Maurice Trowell and Elliott Davis:
How was Maurice Trowell after his redshirt year?
“He’s good. He’s a talented young kid. He has a lot of tools, talent and ability. With any young kid, he has to understand the transition from high school to big-time college football and understand what it takes to really be successful. In terms of just being able to go play football, he’s a talented kid that is doing a good job this summer.
“He’s continuing to master the offense, and he’s a guy that can help us on special teams. He’s a guy that you want to find a way to get the ball in his hands just because he can do a lot of things naturally that you can’t coach. The thing that he has to do a better job of is understanding preparation and those type of things that need to be done to play at this level.”
Does he have the versatility where he can make a play on a short pass, but also go deep?
“Oh yeah, skill-wise, he can play anywhere. He has that ability. When you watch the tape, the way he moves his body and the things that he does, he’s a different player. It’s the same thing with every freshmen — when the light clicks on and everything slows down for them, that’s when his true ability will show.
“Right now, he’s still trying to thing and figure things out, but that’s why we have the summer, where we can slow down and re-teach things so he’s really comfortable with what we’re asking him to do and executing it. It’s just a matter of the game slowing down for him in his mind, so that he’s now reacting instead of trying to think about what he has to do.”
Davis:
“Elliott did a really good job coming over midstream in the spring and kind of figuring out the offense on the run. He was able to make plays and get down the field. He had a couple of plays in the spring game that showed he make plays down the field. I’m excited about Elliott,
“I think the biggest thing for him is just getting back into receiver mode. He’s been playing defense for a whole year, but in terms of doing what we’re doing on offense, I think he has a general grasp of it — we have to get him caught up to that, but he has natural skills. He is a kid that is explosive, can run after the catch, has good hands. I’m excited to see his development and what he puts into it this summer. He’s a kid that can definitely play and has natural wide receiver skills that I’m excited about.
Brian Sessoms:
“He’s fast. I haven’t seen him live, I’ve seen him on the tape, but speed is the one thing you really can’t coach. You’re either fast or you’re not fast. If you’re slow, we can probably help you get a little bit faster, but if you’re fast, you’re fast. When I was at Miami, we had kids that were naturally fast, they can wake up in the morning and they can run. I think Sessoms is one of those guys.
“It’s exciting to see him. He’s a competitive guy. The thing that you always get concerned with a little bit is he is a track kid? He’s a football player that’s very, very fast. I’m excited to get him here and see where he fits in the offense and what kind of things we can do with him and continue to develop him.”
Freddie Simmons:
“Freddie is a 1,000-point scorer in basketball, I think he won the district in both the hurdles two or three years in a row. He’s another kid that has really good speed. I think his body control comes from being able to play basketball and also being able to do the hurdles, but he’s probably the tallest one we have in the class. It’s the same thing, he’s a competitive kid. He wants to go out and compete, that’s what is the most exciting thing about him.
“I think all of those kids will have a chance to come in and compete once they get here for summer school and learn the offense. Naturally, he has that chip on his shoulder where he wants to show he’s the best at whatever the sport is. We’re excited to get him in here and let him go out there and compete as we teach him the system.”
Vernon Grier from a big-time winning program. Their guys seem to know what they’re doing when they get to college.
“The one thing about his high school coach, I’ve known him for a little while now, Coach Palmieri does a great job of treating his kids like they’re college kids and preparing them to go to college. That’s why a lot of his kids — from D.J. Humphries on — have had a lot of success when they go off to college. He runs his program in such a good way.
Coming from that program, I think he understands what college athletics is all about. He has a great family support system. Vernon is another kid that has track speed, he’s fast but I think the thing with him is his maturity. Whenever you can get a mature kid, they have a chance to come in and have success earlier than other freshmen because they understand the big picture. They don’t get away from home and lose focus.
“I think Vernon is a kid just like J-Sam was and just like the other kids that have gone on [from Mallard Creek], he understands what college is about, he’s a mature kid that understands balance. I think all of those kids will have a great shot of competing, but there’s traits that separate each of them.
Brian Sessoms’ is his speed, Freddie’s is competitiveness and the defining trait for Vernon, I think on top of his athletic ability, is his maturity, which will give him an opportunity to have some success if he can come in and make the transition.
“We have a couple of walk-ons coming in. Chandler Belk from Reagan, he’s a highly competitive kid that we’re excited to see. I’m really excited about this freshman group, just because they’re all football kids and they all love to compete. There’s no grey area in terms of what they want to do. They want to come in and compete to play. They have that attitude and they have that mindset, just talking to them since signing day.
“That’s what we need. We need guys who want to come in and compete because they’re either going to beat guys out or make guys better. I’ve always believe competition separates a lot of people because you’re either going to do it day-in and day-out, or you’re going to step aside and let someone else that can do it. I’m really excited just for training camp because we’ll have a full room of guys who are healthy and hungry, and ready to go get it.”
One area of major focus from what we have gathered from multiple sources is clearly wide receiver. While incoming freshman Nyheim Hines will get time out in the slot, how much remains to be seen. A lot will depend on how much Hines can handle as the staff is going to be reluctant to overload his responsibilities. Hines will get a chance to win the return duties and he will also be in the running backs room, so he is already tackling a lot right off the bat.
However, there is hope that the other three freshmen enrolled can help. They really like the speed that Brian Sessoms and Vernon Grier can bring, and long-striding Freddie Simmons has deceptive speed himself and is a good overall athlete.
***
Expanding on the potential impact of the newcomers in the wide receiver corps, here are some thoughts from first-year wideouts coach George McDonald on the group of signees and redshirt freshmen Maurice Trowell and Elliott Davis:
How was Maurice Trowell after his redshirt year?
“He’s good. He’s a talented young kid. He has a lot of tools, talent and ability. With any young kid, he has to understand the transition from high school to big-time college football and understand what it takes to really be successful. In terms of just being able to go play football, he’s a talented kid that is doing a good job this summer.
“He’s continuing to master the offense, and he’s a guy that can help us on special teams. He’s a guy that you want to find a way to get the ball in his hands just because he can do a lot of things naturally that you can’t coach. The thing that he has to do a better job of is understanding preparation and those type of things that need to be done to play at this level.”
Does he have the versatility where he can make a play on a short pass, but also go deep?
“Oh yeah, skill-wise, he can play anywhere. He has that ability. When you watch the tape, the way he moves his body and the things that he does, he’s a different player. It’s the same thing with every freshmen — when the light clicks on and everything slows down for them, that’s when his true ability will show.
“Right now, he’s still trying to thing and figure things out, but that’s why we have the summer, where we can slow down and re-teach things so he’s really comfortable with what we’re asking him to do and executing it. It’s just a matter of the game slowing down for him in his mind, so that he’s now reacting instead of trying to think about what he has to do.”
Davis:
“Elliott did a really good job coming over midstream in the spring and kind of figuring out the offense on the run. He was able to make plays and get down the field. He had a couple of plays in the spring game that showed he make plays down the field. I’m excited about Elliott,
“I think the biggest thing for him is just getting back into receiver mode. He’s been playing defense for a whole year, but in terms of doing what we’re doing on offense, I think he has a general grasp of it — we have to get him caught up to that, but he has natural skills. He is a kid that is explosive, can run after the catch, has good hands. I’m excited to see his development and what he puts into it this summer. He’s a kid that can definitely play and has natural wide receiver skills that I’m excited about.
Brian Sessoms:
“He’s fast. I haven’t seen him live, I’ve seen him on the tape, but speed is the one thing you really can’t coach. You’re either fast or you’re not fast. If you’re slow, we can probably help you get a little bit faster, but if you’re fast, you’re fast. When I was at Miami, we had kids that were naturally fast, they can wake up in the morning and they can run. I think Sessoms is one of those guys.
“It’s exciting to see him. He’s a competitive guy. The thing that you always get concerned with a little bit is he is a track kid? He’s a football player that’s very, very fast. I’m excited to get him here and see where he fits in the offense and what kind of things we can do with him and continue to develop him.”
Freddie Simmons:
“Freddie is a 1,000-point scorer in basketball, I think he won the district in both the hurdles two or three years in a row. He’s another kid that has really good speed. I think his body control comes from being able to play basketball and also being able to do the hurdles, but he’s probably the tallest one we have in the class. It’s the same thing, he’s a competitive kid. He wants to go out and compete, that’s what is the most exciting thing about him.
“I think all of those kids will have a chance to come in and compete once they get here for summer school and learn the offense. Naturally, he has that chip on his shoulder where he wants to show he’s the best at whatever the sport is. We’re excited to get him in here and let him go out there and compete as we teach him the system.”
Vernon Grier from a big-time winning program. Their guys seem to know what they’re doing when they get to college.
“The one thing about his high school coach, I’ve known him for a little while now, Coach Palmieri does a great job of treating his kids like they’re college kids and preparing them to go to college. That’s why a lot of his kids — from D.J. Humphries on — have had a lot of success when they go off to college. He runs his program in such a good way.
Coming from that program, I think he understands what college athletics is all about. He has a great family support system. Vernon is another kid that has track speed, he’s fast but I think the thing with him is his maturity. Whenever you can get a mature kid, they have a chance to come in and have success earlier than other freshmen because they understand the big picture. They don’t get away from home and lose focus.
“I think Vernon is a kid just like J-Sam was and just like the other kids that have gone on [from Mallard Creek], he understands what college is about, he’s a mature kid that understands balance. I think all of those kids will have a great shot of competing, but there’s traits that separate each of them.
Brian Sessoms’ is his speed, Freddie’s is competitiveness and the defining trait for Vernon, I think on top of his athletic ability, is his maturity, which will give him an opportunity to have some success if he can come in and make the transition.
“We have a couple of walk-ons coming in. Chandler Belk from Reagan, he’s a highly competitive kid that we’re excited to see. I’m really excited about this freshman group, just because they’re all football kids and they all love to compete. There’s no grey area in terms of what they want to do. They want to come in and compete to play. They have that attitude and they have that mindset, just talking to them since signing day.
“That’s what we need. We need guys who want to come in and compete because they’re either going to beat guys out or make guys better. I’ve always believe competition separates a lot of people because you’re either going to do it day-in and day-out, or you’re going to step aside and let someone else that can do it. I’m really excited just for training camp because we’ll have a full room of guys who are healthy and hungry, and ready to go get it.”
