The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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40 ■ THE WOLFPACKER cellent. He was well groomed by his father, Todd Hines, himself an assistant coach at Charlotte Christian. In the spring game, Hines showed natural instincts for a re- ceiver that helped him make play after play. Brissett had a clear comfort level targeting Hines, too. Because he enrolled early, Hines should be comfortable in the offense this fall, and he may be able to even help return kicks. S Josh Jones Doeren admitted that he and Jones "had a long talk" about playing the safety last season in what would have been his true freshman year. It would not have been surprising. He was a touted recruit out of Walled Lake (Mich.) Western who backed out of a commitment to Illinois and spurned Colorado and Pittsburgh to pick NCSU. Instead, they worked Jones as a line- backer on the scout team. That experience proved helpful. "When you are playing safety on the scout team, it's pretty boring," Doeren said. "You are just back there all day because you aren't allowed to hit the receivers. We put him up there, and it taught him a lot on how to play with his hands and run keys." Jones is now back at safety, where he starred in high school, and is in position to start as a rookie alongside returning starter Hakim Jones, a redshirt junior. Jones will be pressed into the spotlight, too. The new defensive base alignment with five defen- sive backs puts pressure on him to make plays in space. Doeren is confident, though, that Jones can handle the responsibilities. "He pushes himself and he's hard on himself, but he still has a lot of progress to be made," Doeren said. DE Mike Rose The redshirt junior is finally in line to start after playing as a reserve for departed starter Darryl Cato-Bishop the last two years. Rose, who had a scrimmage-high 3.5 tackles for loss in the spring game, has set an ambitious goal of 10 sacks this fall. "This camp, I look at it as a coming out," Rose said. "I played behind Cato-Bishop for a long time, who was a great player, but now I am trying to make a name for myself in the program." In the first seven games last year, Rose showed he could be capable. He notched 18 total stops, four tackles for loss, two sacks, two passes broken up, two quarterback hur- ries and a fumble recovery. However, Rose did not have a tackle the rest of the season. Athletically, Rose has always been gifted. He was a six-time all-region per- former in track in high school with a per- sonal best of 10.90 seconds in the 100-me- ter dash and 22.34 seconds in the 200. But he played only a little bit of defensive end for Hillcrest High in Fountain Inn, S.C., which is near Greenville. Since arriving at NCSU, Rose has bulked up from a 205-pounder to nearly 275 pounds, and he feels prepared to be an every-down defensive end who can rush the passer and stop the run. ■ Bounce Back Candidates These players are a bit more of known commodi- ties for NC State, but they will be looking to bounce back from various things ranging from injuries to a drop in production last year. SAFETY JARVIS BYRD What kind of role Byrd will play remains to be seen. But if he plays a role at all, then it is an accom - plishment in itself. Byrd's story is well known. The one-time four-star recruit started three games as a true freshman at corner in 2009, but tore his ACL in the season finale against UNC. After redshirting the following season to rehab his knee, Byrd seemed in line to regain a starting spot for 2011 — but tore his ACL again in the summer, costing him another year. He returned to play sparingly as a reserve in 2012, but a shift to safety seemed to jumpstart Byrd in 2013. He started the first five games, but at Wake Forest tore his ACL for the third time. The NCAA granted Byrd a rare sixth year of eli - gibility, and he has made a determined comeback to provide depth at safety for the Wolfpack. OFFENSIVE TACKLE ROB CRISP The fifth-year senior has not had the career that he had envisioned. The ballyhooed five-star prospect from Athens Drive High in Raleigh played as a true freshman in 2010 and appeared poised to break out as a full-time starter entering his junior season in 2012. A tailbone injury in the opener against Tennessee, though, sidelined him five games and left him far less than 100 percent the rest of the year. Then last season, after two games, Crisp suffered a concussion that cost him the remainder of the season. He was granted a fifth year by the NCAA, and he is expected to start at left tackle for State. After es - sentially taking a year off, Crisp has rediscovered his love of football. "It hurt me having to sit at home and watch these guys play — no worse feeling than that," he said. "I also did a lot more thinking, too, and I've become a lot more mature in a lot of situations. When you don't have something you realize how much it means to you. "I miss the game." DEFENSIVE TACKLE T.Y. MCGILL NCSU did not have a single player picked for the ACC preseason all-conference team last year, a prognostication that unfortunately proved true for the Pack. The one player that probably got some consideration, however, was McGill after a strong sophomore season in 2012. McGill started 10 games and posted impressive numbers with 50 tackles, 10.5 stops for loss, five sacks and seven quarterback hurries. Expectations were high for 2013, but his production last fall — across the board — was half of that. He started just twice and had 25 hits, five tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and just one quarterback pressure. However, he played well in the spring game, lining up with the first-team defense and recording three tackles, including two for loss and a sack. McGill continued to earn strong reviews during preseason camp. — Matt Carter Redshirt junior defensive end Mike Rose, who led the Pack with 3.5 tackles for loss in the spring game, has set a personal goal of 10 sacks for this season. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN