The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1493632
storylines this spring are more cen- tered around questions that need to be answered. Here are five of the biggest unknowns facing head coach Dave Do- eren entering his 11th season with the Wolfpack. Who's the quarterback? Four quarterbacks made multiple starts for the Wolfpack in 2022. Two of those signal-callers — rising redshirt freshman MJ Morris and rising fourth- year redshirt sophomore Ben Finley — are returning for the spring. However, a projected Morris-Finley quarterback position battle was up- ended by a last-minute addition from the transfer portal prior to the start of NC State's spring semester: Virginia's record-setting Brennan Armstrong, who is taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility granted due to the pan- demic. Armstrong was considered a potential ACC Player of the Year candidate enter- ing the 2022 season, but with Cavaliers offensive coordinator Robert Anae hav- ing left for Syracuse, the left-handed quarterback struggled to replicate his earlier success. Now, Anae has been hired to take over the offense at NC State, and Armstrong has reunited with him in Raleigh. Arm- strong's familiarity with Anae's offen- sive tendencies and terminology likely gives him a leg up on the younger Morris and Finley entering the spring. Can Armstrong prove that last sea- son, in which he threw for just 7 touch- downs compared to 12 interceptions, was an aberration? In 2021, his final season with Anae, Armstrong threw for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns with just 10 picks and also rushed for 251 yards and 9 more scores. Morris flashed considerable promise as a true freshman, tossing 3 touchdown passes in each of the wins over Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, while Finley led the Wolfpack to a thrilling win at North Carolina to end the regular season. What changes are coming to the offense? NC State fans will get their first taste of what the offense may look like under Anae's direction. He takes over for Tim Beck, who had been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Wolfpack since 2020. Beck was hired in December as the head coach at Coastal Carolina. The timing of Beck's departure may have worked well for NC State. He in- herited an offense that was anemic in 2019 and made it respectable for two years in a row, but the 2022 attack had its difficulties. NC State finished 94th out of 131 FBS teams in scoring at 24.3 points per con- test. The Pack was 110th in rushing at 113.8 yards per game, 74th in passing at 226.1 yards and 105th in total offense at 329.8 yards a contest. Against Power Five opponents, the Wolfpack averaged just 304.4 yards and 19.9 points per game. That latter fig- ure drops to 19.2 points when removing a defensive touchdown against Texas Tech from the equation. After three years under Beck, the tim- ing may have been right for a new spark and look on the offense. "I think there is no question it's going to be a big difference," ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain said about the transition from Beck to Anae. Mac Lain added that Anae is a "mad scientist" with a creative approach to offense. Mac Lain recalled a conversation he had with Doeren in December. "He said, 'I love that we were multiple on defense so many years. I love that we have been this beast that is hard to prepare for. Now, that's we're going to be on offense as well,'" Mac Lain noted. Who will be the breakout performers? Typically during the spring, someone who lacks game experience emerges as a new name to watch for on the depth chart. That, however, has been tough to do OFFENSE No. Name Elig. Ht. Wt. QUARTERBACK — Brennan Armstrong R-Sr. 6-2 210 16 MJ Morris R-Fr. 6-2 192 RUNNING BACK 3 Jordan Houston Sr. 5-10 192 0 Demie Sumo-Karngbaye Jr. 6-0 210 TIGHT END 6 Trent Pennix R-Sr. 6-3 230 29 Christopher Toudle R-Jr. 6-4 240 WIDE RECEIVER 15 Keyon Lesane Sr. 5-11 190 — D.J. Collins R-So. 6-4 210 WIDE RECEIVER 8 Julian Gray R-So. 5-11 197 82 Terrell Timmons Jr. So. 6-2 180 SLOT 4 Porter Rooks Jr. 6-1 195 21 Jalen Coit R-So. 5-11 171 LEFT TACKLE 74 Anthony Belton R-Jr. 6-6 330 76 Patrick Matan R-So. 6-4 310 LEFT GUARD — Dawson Jaramillo R-Sr. 6-5 300 75 Anthony Carter Jr. R-So. 6-3 300 CENTER 54 Dylan McMahon R-Jr. 6-4 305 57 Lyndon Cooper R-So. 6-2 315 RIGHT GUARD 53 Derrick Eason R-Sr. 6-4 315 72 Sean Hill R-So. 6-3 315 RIGHT TACKLE 52 Timothy McKay R-Jr. 6-4 315 62 Jaleel Davis R-Fr. 6-6 315 DEFENSE No. Name Elig. Ht. Wt. LEFT END 45 Davin Vann Jr. 6-2 295 — Noah Potter R-Jr. 6-6 270 NOSE TACKLE 5 C.J. Clark R-Jr. 6-3 300 46 Nick Campbell R-Fr. 6-4 290 RIGHT END 9 Savion Jackson Sr. 6-2 290 58 Travali Price R-So. 6-4 265 STRONGSIDE LINEBACKER 2 Jaylon Scott Sr. 6-1 225 41 Caden Fordham R-So. 6-1 225 MIDDLE LINEBACKER 26 Devon Betty Jr. 6-1 225 33 Jordan Poole R-So. 6-0 225 WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER 11 Payton Wilson R-Sr. 6-4 240 27 Jayland Parker R-So. 6-1 215 LEFT CORNERBACK 3 Aydan White Jr. 6-0 185 — Renté Hinton R-So. 6-3 190 RIGHT CORNERBACK 25 Shyheim Battle R-Jr. 6-2 195 22 Teshaun Smith R-Sr. 6-3 190 STRONG SAFETY 6 Jakeen Harris Sr. 5-10 190 16 Rakeim Ashford Sr. 6-1 190 FREE SAFETY 20 Sean Brown R-So. 6-0 198 — Bishop Fitzgerald Jr. 6-1 185 NICKEL 12 Devan Boykin Jr. 5-10 187 — Robert Kennedy III R-Sr. 5-10 185 Projected Depth Chart MARCH/APRIL 2023 ■ 33