Obviously the opportunity has arrived for redshirt freshman quarterback Devin Leary. If Leary does well, we suspect that many will grumble about him not being the starter from the beginning.
We can only say that multiple sources we have talked to since August were unanimous in their assessment that Leary, while he possesses the most upside and particularly has a better throwing arm than the other options, was a bit mistake-prone in preseason camp which led to him falling behind the other quarterbacks.
The basic gist is that Leary needed to understand fully what it took to be a major college football starting quarterback. In hindsight, if NCSU knew that it’s offense was going to struggle this mightily against Power Five opponents in particular, odds are better that the staff may have just taken the lumps and gone with Leary’s upside.
Unlike UNC head coach Mack Brown however, NC State’s coaches were not playing with house money. The focus was more on who was ready now to win, and we have yet to meet anyone in the know that disputed the decisions made at that point.
That said, there is excitement that Leary has turned the corner and is ready for primetime. Whether that jumpstarts the offense remains to be seen. There are still a multitude of issues in personnel that need to be worked around.
Three-star offensive lineman Jonathan Adorno from Rolesville (N.C.) High obviously made the switch to UNC over the weekend. It’s a bad look from an optics standpoint for NC State on the heels of losing receiver Stephen Gosnell from East Surry High in Pilot Mountain, N.C. to Chapel Hill as well.
We will maintain, and we are backed up by other sources who would know, that NC State could have been 7-0 at this point and Larry Fedora coaching at UNC and Gosnell would have still flipped. Adorno, from all accounts, is more of a byproduct of the hype being generated out of Chapel Hill.
What’s more important is where does NC State go from here? The Pack dramatically stepped up its recruiting activity over this past bye week. It offered receiver Devin Chandler from Hough High in Cornelius, N.C. (along with Illinois and Virginia) and South Carolina four-star wideout commit Rico Powers, who visited NCSU previously and is friends and a former teammate of Pack freshman safety Jakeen Harris.
There were questions over whether or not NC State was going to make room for talented three-star OL Anthony Carter from Butler High in Matthews, N.C., but Adorno’s defection makes that easy. NCSU also offered well-regarded (and potential Stanford-lean) James Pogorelc from Chantilly (Va.) High this week, and it is moving aggressively to bring in R.J. Adams, a four-star from Woodbridge (Va.) High for an official visit. (There is also two other offensive linemen we understand NC State are strongly evaluating for offers — three-star Parker Clements from Lugoff Elgin High in Elgin, S.C., and another currently committed to another school.)
So in the final analysis, if NC State was to land one of those wideouts and offensive linemen, it will end up, on paper, no worse for wear, aside from the optics.
We had a chance to see three-star receiver commit Joshua Crabtree from Heritage High in Wake Forest, N.C., last week. Inevitably people will want to compare him to Gosnell, but it should be noted that Crabtree’s offer came was more due to losing Nate McCollum to Georgia Tech than Gosnell, who NCSU still believed was a solid commit at the time Crabtree was offered.
Nevertheless, if you wanted to make the comparison: Gosnell is thicker and might be a step faster straight-line. Crabtree is smoother, more fluid and has better length/wingspan. Both showed good hands and instincts.
Who would we compare Crabtree to in a Pack uniform? We think once he fills out he can be in the same mold athletically as a Quintin Payton, who was taller and eventually grew to 211 pounds but like Crabtree was around 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. Payton had a big junior year (51 receptions for 798 yards and two scores) and then saw his production drop off as a senior in 2013, Dave Doeren’s first year when there were a lot of QB issues. He caught 23 passes for 481 yards and three scores. Payton then received a couple of NFL tryouts but never latched on.
The difference between Payton and Crabtree is that Crabtree, as we noted above, is smoother and more explosive than Payton, we think. In that regard, we see a little of former Pack receiver Brian Clark, who played at NCSU from 2002-05. Clark looked like a future top wideout as a sophomore when he made 33 receptions for 548 yards and two scores, but his production slumped a year later to 18 catches for 211 yards and three touchdowns.
He rebounded somewhat as a senior with 25 catches for 537 yards and six scores. It’s worth noting he played in some lean years at QB too as NC State cycled through Jay Davis, Marcus Stone and Daniel Evans.
Clark (who finished his career at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds), played six years in the NFL with three different teams and made 11 catches for 100 yards.
Last week we went over the in-state offensive juniors who have been offered by NC State. This week it is the defensive players. We repeat what we have said previously, November is going to be an important month for NC State in the 2021 class. It finally has some home games to attract top talent after surrendering that advantage in the first two months of the year to rivals, notably UNC who has had a bevy of nice home games with great time slots.
Defensive end Zaire Patterson, Winston-Salem Prep – UNC and South Carolina have the early edge here. We talked with Patterson a couple weeks ago and did not get the sense he had much interest in NC State. He also no-showed the Alpha Wolf Showcase.
Defensive end Jahvaree Ritzie, Glenn High in Kernersville – NC State is a strong contender here, but so is UNC. Could this be a recruitment where UNC’s loading up on D-Linemen in 2019 perhaps help NC State? The Heels have six D-Line commits already in 2020 and have a couple more potential possibilities.
Defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver, Rocky Mount High – During the summer we felt like Silver was a prime NC State lean, but this is a recruitment where it would have been nice to have had some home games that could have attracted him for an unofficial visit or two. He’s also shaping up to be a national recruit.
Defensive lineman Travali Price, North Lincoln High in Lincolnton – Visited NC State twice over the summer, so that’s a sign that NC State is in the mix. However, early vibes suggest UNC might be stronger here. Like we noted with Ritzie however, one wonders how much UNC’s cadre of defensive line commits will affect things in 2021.
Linebacker Power Echols, Charlotte Vance – NC State does not seem to be a factor and best guess is he ends up at Clemson.
Linebacker Jack Hollifield, Shelby High – It’d be a surprise if he doesn’t join his brother at Virginia Tech, but it’s not a given either.
Linebacker Jordan Poole, West Stanly High in Oakboro – NC State has a nice chance with Poole, but we would not be surprised if his stock really rises later this fall into the winter. Virginia Tech is also a very serious contender here.
Linebacker Dameon Wilson, Kings Mountain High – Of the two prospects at Kings Mountain, NC State’s chances are much better with Wilson than receiver Kobe Paysour.
Cornerback Tymir Brown, Jacksonville High – NC State and UNC could do battle here, but over the summer we would have given the edge to the Heels. He’s another that we would not be surprised if his stock exploded.
Cornerback Mario Love, Hough High in Cornelius – NC State is definitely a prime contender with Love, but Love is also the type that is going to like a lot of schools. That said, we could see Love being a repeat visitor in November, and if that happens it’s a good sign.
Cornerback Gabe Stephens, Mountain Island in Mt. Holly – Stephens is a South Carolina legacy and he has a teammate headed to UNC in the 2020 class, so this recruitment was not set up well for NC State from the get-go.
Athlete DeAndre Boykins, Central Cabarrus High in Concord – We noted last week that NC State has been in touch with his older brother, linebacker transfer Derek Boykins. There was a feeling in the recruiting world that DeAndre did not want to go to the same school as his brother, preferring to blaze his own path, but there is also a thought that might have been just related to South Carolina.
Athlete Kamarro Edmonds, Havelock High – NC State has done a nice job with Edmonds early, but given the Pack’s luck (or lack of) at Havelock we are always leery of State’s chances with players from that school.
Athlete Kaemen Marley, Eastern Randolph High in Ramsuer – There are those who think he’s a UNC-NC State battle, but that’s anyone’s guess. We do know he’s sent some positive signals to NC State.
Athlete Dontavius Nash, Huss High in Gastonia – Was probably going to UNC the moment the Heels offered (and has already committed to them).
Athlete Breon Pass, Reidsville High – Probably another early UNC-NC State battle. Pack has offered in hoops as well which might help. He’ll likely end up as a slot receiver.
Kicker Eddie Czaplicki, Charlotte Providence High – We have to assume this is a greyshirt offer, and best we can tell the Pack is his lone offer.
We can only say that multiple sources we have talked to since August were unanimous in their assessment that Leary, while he possesses the most upside and particularly has a better throwing arm than the other options, was a bit mistake-prone in preseason camp which led to him falling behind the other quarterbacks.
The basic gist is that Leary needed to understand fully what it took to be a major college football starting quarterback. In hindsight, if NCSU knew that it’s offense was going to struggle this mightily against Power Five opponents in particular, odds are better that the staff may have just taken the lumps and gone with Leary’s upside.
Unlike UNC head coach Mack Brown however, NC State’s coaches were not playing with house money. The focus was more on who was ready now to win, and we have yet to meet anyone in the know that disputed the decisions made at that point.
That said, there is excitement that Leary has turned the corner and is ready for primetime. Whether that jumpstarts the offense remains to be seen. There are still a multitude of issues in personnel that need to be worked around.
•••
Three-star offensive lineman Jonathan Adorno from Rolesville (N.C.) High obviously made the switch to UNC over the weekend. It’s a bad look from an optics standpoint for NC State on the heels of losing receiver Stephen Gosnell from East Surry High in Pilot Mountain, N.C. to Chapel Hill as well.
We will maintain, and we are backed up by other sources who would know, that NC State could have been 7-0 at this point and Larry Fedora coaching at UNC and Gosnell would have still flipped. Adorno, from all accounts, is more of a byproduct of the hype being generated out of Chapel Hill.
What’s more important is where does NC State go from here? The Pack dramatically stepped up its recruiting activity over this past bye week. It offered receiver Devin Chandler from Hough High in Cornelius, N.C. (along with Illinois and Virginia) and South Carolina four-star wideout commit Rico Powers, who visited NCSU previously and is friends and a former teammate of Pack freshman safety Jakeen Harris.
There were questions over whether or not NC State was going to make room for talented three-star OL Anthony Carter from Butler High in Matthews, N.C., but Adorno’s defection makes that easy. NCSU also offered well-regarded (and potential Stanford-lean) James Pogorelc from Chantilly (Va.) High this week, and it is moving aggressively to bring in R.J. Adams, a four-star from Woodbridge (Va.) High for an official visit. (There is also two other offensive linemen we understand NC State are strongly evaluating for offers — three-star Parker Clements from Lugoff Elgin High in Elgin, S.C., and another currently committed to another school.)
So in the final analysis, if NC State was to land one of those wideouts and offensive linemen, it will end up, on paper, no worse for wear, aside from the optics.
•••
We had a chance to see three-star receiver commit Joshua Crabtree from Heritage High in Wake Forest, N.C., last week. Inevitably people will want to compare him to Gosnell, but it should be noted that Crabtree’s offer came was more due to losing Nate McCollum to Georgia Tech than Gosnell, who NCSU still believed was a solid commit at the time Crabtree was offered.
Nevertheless, if you wanted to make the comparison: Gosnell is thicker and might be a step faster straight-line. Crabtree is smoother, more fluid and has better length/wingspan. Both showed good hands and instincts.
Who would we compare Crabtree to in a Pack uniform? We think once he fills out he can be in the same mold athletically as a Quintin Payton, who was taller and eventually grew to 211 pounds but like Crabtree was around 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. Payton had a big junior year (51 receptions for 798 yards and two scores) and then saw his production drop off as a senior in 2013, Dave Doeren’s first year when there were a lot of QB issues. He caught 23 passes for 481 yards and three scores. Payton then received a couple of NFL tryouts but never latched on.
The difference between Payton and Crabtree is that Crabtree, as we noted above, is smoother and more explosive than Payton, we think. In that regard, we see a little of former Pack receiver Brian Clark, who played at NCSU from 2002-05. Clark looked like a future top wideout as a sophomore when he made 33 receptions for 548 yards and two scores, but his production slumped a year later to 18 catches for 211 yards and three touchdowns.
He rebounded somewhat as a senior with 25 catches for 537 yards and six scores. It’s worth noting he played in some lean years at QB too as NC State cycled through Jay Davis, Marcus Stone and Daniel Evans.
Clark (who finished his career at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds), played six years in the NFL with three different teams and made 11 catches for 100 yards.
•••
Last week we went over the in-state offensive juniors who have been offered by NC State. This week it is the defensive players. We repeat what we have said previously, November is going to be an important month for NC State in the 2021 class. It finally has some home games to attract top talent after surrendering that advantage in the first two months of the year to rivals, notably UNC who has had a bevy of nice home games with great time slots.
Defensive end Zaire Patterson, Winston-Salem Prep – UNC and South Carolina have the early edge here. We talked with Patterson a couple weeks ago and did not get the sense he had much interest in NC State. He also no-showed the Alpha Wolf Showcase.
Defensive end Jahvaree Ritzie, Glenn High in Kernersville – NC State is a strong contender here, but so is UNC. Could this be a recruitment where UNC’s loading up on D-Linemen in 2019 perhaps help NC State? The Heels have six D-Line commits already in 2020 and have a couple more potential possibilities.
Defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver, Rocky Mount High – During the summer we felt like Silver was a prime NC State lean, but this is a recruitment where it would have been nice to have had some home games that could have attracted him for an unofficial visit or two. He’s also shaping up to be a national recruit.
Defensive lineman Travali Price, North Lincoln High in Lincolnton – Visited NC State twice over the summer, so that’s a sign that NC State is in the mix. However, early vibes suggest UNC might be stronger here. Like we noted with Ritzie however, one wonders how much UNC’s cadre of defensive line commits will affect things in 2021.
Linebacker Power Echols, Charlotte Vance – NC State does not seem to be a factor and best guess is he ends up at Clemson.
Linebacker Jack Hollifield, Shelby High – It’d be a surprise if he doesn’t join his brother at Virginia Tech, but it’s not a given either.
Linebacker Jordan Poole, West Stanly High in Oakboro – NC State has a nice chance with Poole, but we would not be surprised if his stock really rises later this fall into the winter. Virginia Tech is also a very serious contender here.
Linebacker Dameon Wilson, Kings Mountain High – Of the two prospects at Kings Mountain, NC State’s chances are much better with Wilson than receiver Kobe Paysour.
Cornerback Tymir Brown, Jacksonville High – NC State and UNC could do battle here, but over the summer we would have given the edge to the Heels. He’s another that we would not be surprised if his stock exploded.
Cornerback Mario Love, Hough High in Cornelius – NC State is definitely a prime contender with Love, but Love is also the type that is going to like a lot of schools. That said, we could see Love being a repeat visitor in November, and if that happens it’s a good sign.
Cornerback Gabe Stephens, Mountain Island in Mt. Holly – Stephens is a South Carolina legacy and he has a teammate headed to UNC in the 2020 class, so this recruitment was not set up well for NC State from the get-go.
Athlete DeAndre Boykins, Central Cabarrus High in Concord – We noted last week that NC State has been in touch with his older brother, linebacker transfer Derek Boykins. There was a feeling in the recruiting world that DeAndre did not want to go to the same school as his brother, preferring to blaze his own path, but there is also a thought that might have been just related to South Carolina.
Athlete Kamarro Edmonds, Havelock High – NC State has done a nice job with Edmonds early, but given the Pack’s luck (or lack of) at Havelock we are always leery of State’s chances with players from that school.
Athlete Kaemen Marley, Eastern Randolph High in Ramsuer – There are those who think he’s a UNC-NC State battle, but that’s anyone’s guess. We do know he’s sent some positive signals to NC State.
Athlete Dontavius Nash, Huss High in Gastonia – Was probably going to UNC the moment the Heels offered (and has already committed to them).
Athlete Breon Pass, Reidsville High – Probably another early UNC-NC State battle. Pack has offered in hoops as well which might help. He’ll likely end up as a slot receiver.
Kicker Eddie Czaplicki, Charlotte Providence High – We have to assume this is a greyshirt offer, and best we can tell the Pack is his lone offer.
