What to expect when NC State releases its depth chart
N.C. State will open the season on Saturday against East Carolina.
There will be a starting quarterback. Up to this point, Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren has been relatively quiet about how the competition to replace Ryan Finley has unfolded.
With his weekly press conference on Monday (at noon), Doeren is expected to shed some light on what N.C. State’s retooled offense will look like. The Wolfpack has to rebuild what was the No. 8 passing offense in the country with seven new starters (and three new assistant coaches).
Of those new starters, obviously the big question is at quarterback. Finley, All-ACC in 2018, was the starter for the past three years. He’s in the NFL.
Third-year sophomore Matt McKay left spring and entered training camp as the starter. Sophomore Bailey Hockman and redshirt freshman Devin Leary were given a chance to win the job in practice this month.
There’s a good chance Doeren is likely to use both McKay, who was Finley’s backup last year, and Hockman, who began his career at Florida State, in the season-opener against East Carolina on Saturday. The two separated from Leary over the course of the preseason practices but not necessarily from each other.
It wouldn’t be the first time Doeren has used more than one quarterback. His first season in 2013 was an “all hands on deck” type of operation with three different quarterbacks rotating at times.
Doeren went into the 2016 with the plan to use both Finley and Jalan McClendon. Finley started every game, and took the majority of the snaps, but McClendon was given a role, notably in a win over Notre Dame.
Like Finley in ‘16, the quarterback who makes the fewest mistakes is likely the one Doeren will ultimately choose. How the reps will work out between McKay and Hockman, we might not know until the ECU game or even for a few games after.
A starring role for Emeka Emezie
The new quarterback is going to have good options at receiver, even with the loss of a pair of 1,000-yard All-ACC targets.
By all accounts, junior Emeka Emezie has had an outstanding offseason and camp. He caught 53 passes for 616 yards with five touchdowns (one more than Jakobi Meyers) in a supporting role last season.
Emezie will replace Kelvin Harmon, who led the team with 1,186 yards and seven touchdowns, at one outside spot. C.J. Riley, a big target (6-4, 211 pounds) who had 28 catches for 315 yards, will take over at the other outside spot.
In the slot, sophomore Thayer Thomas and Tabari Hines, a grad transfer, are in line for plenty of targets. Meyers, an undrafted free agent who has been the breakout star of the preseason for the New England Patriots, led the Wolfpack in catches (92) and targets (124) in 12 games last season.
Thomas had 34 catches for 383 yards with three TDs. Hines, who played his first three seasons at Wake Forest, is coming off of an injury-shortened season at Oregon but has had some of the best games of his college career against N.C. State.
Rebuilding the offensive line
The offensive line has to be rebuilt on the left side. Emanuel McGirt, a fifth-year senior, is expected to start at left tackle and sophomore Bryson Speas at left guard. Junior Joe Sculthorpe has to fill the big shoes of Garrett Bradbury, an All-American and last year’s winner of the Rimington Trophy for the top center in the country.
Both starters, guard Josh Fedd-Jackson and tackle Justin Witt, return on the right side of the line. Tight end Dylan Autenrieth, one of the best run-blockers on the team, should help the group come together and is a key in the run game.
Junior Cary Angeline, who never really got in a groove last year after he had transferred from Southern California, will be used as the primary tight end in the passing game.
Ricky Person and running back options
Sophomore running back Ricky Person will get the first chance to replace departed running back Reggie Gallaspy. Gallaspy was the third straight N.C. State running back to top the 1,000-yard mark last season.
Person was set back by injuries during his freshman season but he ran for 471 yards in nine games.
Speedy freshman Bam Knight, the star of the spring game, and freshman Jordan Houston could add some help in the passing game, the way Nyheim Hines and Jaylen Samuels did out of the backfield in 2017.
This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
