The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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96 ■ THE WOLFPACKER CORNERBACKS For Ingram, Barlow wants to see him play with more belief in himself. "He's a guy that just needs to continue to learn to believe in his natural ability," he said. "He's probably not as consistent with the confidence as some of the other guys, but he definitely has the skill set, he has the length just like all those other guys." The competition though extends beyond those two. Redshirt junior Vernon Grier, in his second season at corner after moving over from wide receiver, was one of the most productive players in the spring in terms of passes broken up and interceptions, accord- ing to Barlow. Touted four-star signee and early enrollee De'Von Graves closed out the spring on a high note and could be a factor as well. "I thought it all came together for him — he had a solid spring game, and that last week of practice was probably his best three or four practices," Barlow said. "He's a guy that I definitely think can help us as a freshman at the corner position." Junior college transfer Kishawn Miller missed the spring with an injury, but should be healthy for the start of preseason camp. "He's probably not as long as [the players] we've previously had, but he's a guy who definitely has the skill set," Barlow said. "He has the explosiveness in his speed to make up for some of his limitations in height. "… If he's healthy I think that there's a good chance that he could be one of the guys pushing for one of those open spots." Freshmen Taiyon Palmer and Teshaun Smith are both coming in with high expectations. Barlow noted that he is not thinking about redshirting either one of them, but rather has the anticipation that both will play. Of the two, Palmer might be more physically mature while Smith is longer. All of the corners will have the benefit of going against one of the best receiving corps in the ACC during practices. "Iron sharpens iron," Barlow pointed out. "That's one of the deals that I talk to them about — that some of the plays that they are mak- ing and not making, I constantly remind them that the receivers we are playing against are as good or better than the guys that they are going to see on Saturday. "When we get to Saturday there should be no issues, especially with confidence level because you practice against the best of the best every day. That helps us to get better." Barlow believes his room has the talent to keep up with the Pack receivers in those practices. "Normally, I had two and maybe one more, and the next four, five or six probably had no chance to play," Barlow said. "… All those guys have the skill set to be really good. "We just need to be able to put them in position to make plays and make sure we are not asking them to do stuff that they can't do." ■ Getting To Know: Maurice Trowell During the first week of spring practice, you could excuse fifth-year senior corner Maurice Trowell for using some of his old receiver habits in drills. After all, until this spring the wideout position was all he had known. "The first week it was real tough," he admitted. Trowell caught 21 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns in his first two years at NC State, but his playing time dipped significantly last fall when he was held without a reception. During the offseason, Trowell was approached by head coach Dave Doeren about potentially playing cornerback. The veteran player had to play the role of corner on the punt return team in 2017 and had impressed Doeren with some of his natural talents there. "He told me that they were a little low on depth at corner and said that I could be a good guy that could come in and play," Trowell recalled. Trowell welcomed the opportunity with open arms. "I'm athletic, and I feel like I could learn the technique well and compete," he added. Last year's senior corners, Mike Stevens and Johnathan Alston, have given Trowell some pointers. Alston's advice could be particularly use - ful because, like Trowell, he was a former wide receiver that made the conversion. Corners coach George Barlow has also been giving Trowell the crash course on the ins and outs of the position. "Everything came pretty fast when I started doing it," Trowell noted. "I thought it was going to be a little harder. After getting the technique down it was just like receiver, but on the other side of the ball." Defense is not the only position on the field where Trowell is hoping to make an impact. Nyheim Hines has handled kickoff returns for most of the past three years, but he declared early for the NFL Draft and was picked in the fourth round by the Indianapolis Colts. Trowell is one of several in the mix to replace Hines on kickoff returns. He did it twice last year, returning the kicks for 34 and 23 yards. "This year I am definitely going to go for the kick return spot," he said. "The last four years I have been practicing. I feel like I can help the team a lot." It is all about whatever Trowell can do to get on the field. For now, his days of catching passes for long touchdowns on offense are over. "I still miss those guys over there," he acknowledged of the wideouts. "They're my boys." — Matt Carter Trowell, a fifth-year senior, moved from offense to defense in the spring and is con- tending for a starting job. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN