The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/790572
48 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ 2017 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY MATT CARTER R ecruiting rankings are not the be all and end all. All that actu- ally matters is a player's pro- duction on the field once he gets to college. Here are a few examples from NC State's past to prove it: The 2011 Class This class was shockingly ranked No. 95 in the country by Rivals.com. Among the teams ranked ahead of the NC State sign- ees were Central Florida, Cincinnati, SMU, Marshall, San Diego State, South Florida, Colorado State, Memphis, Toledo, East Carolina, Wyoming, Houston, Utah State, Hawai'i, Northern Illinois, UNLV, New Mexico, Kent State, Louisiana Tech, Fresno State and Southern Miss. The group was paced by lineman Joe Thuney, an All-American offensive tackle at NCSU as a senior who started every game and played more snaps than any New Eng- land Patriot this year as a rookie for the Super Bowl champions. Defensive tackle T.Y. McGill just com- pleted his second season in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts. Cornerback Juston Burris was drafted in the fourth round in 2016 by the New York Jets and started a game this year as a rookie. Punter Wil Baumann was first-team All- ACC as a senior and set the school record for career punts (266) and punting yards (10,868). Kicker Niklas Sade broke the NC State career records for points scored (332), field goals made (55), field goals attempted (79) and extra points (167). Long snapper Scott Thompson was a Phil Steele All-Amer- ican as a junior. Defensive end Mike Rose earned a sec- ond-team All-ACC nod as a senior when he had 10.5 sacks, third most for one season at NCSU. He finished his career with 17.5 sacks, which ranked eighth in school annals at the time. Offensive guard Alex Barr and safety Ha- kim Jones were three-year starters for teams that went to bowl games the last pair of those seasons. Tight end Benson Brown, defensive tackle Carlos Gray and linebacker Rodman Noel all earned NFL training camp invites. If that's the 95th best class, 2011 was an all-time great year for football talent. The 2007 Class One individual explains why this class was better than its No. 50 ranking by Rivals.com: Russell Wilson. His career is on a projection towards po- tential future Hall of Fame status in the NFL, with one Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks and another appearance already in the books. Long before that, Wilson was considered just a two-star recruit. At NCSU, Wilson was first-team All-ACC as a redshirt freshman and led the Pack to a final top-25 ranking in 2010. This class had other successes, though. Defensive tackle Markus Kuhn, linebacker Audie Cole and defensive tackle J.R. Sweezy all landed in the NFL (Sweezy as an offensive lineman). Tight end George Bryan rewrote the record books for receiving at that position and was a three-time All-ACC choice. Wide receiver Owen Spencer owns the school record for most receiving yards per catch (19.4) and is third all time in receiving yards (2,441). He was second-team All-ACC in 2010. Jake Vermiglio was a three-year starter at left tackle. Both Spencer and Ver- miglio got training camp invites in the NFL. The 2004 Class The collection of NFL talent in a class ranked No. 42 nationally is impressive: run- ning back Andre Brown, tight end Anthony Hill, safety DaJuan Morgan, defensive tackle DeMario Pressley and defensive end Willie Young, who is still going strong with the Chicago Bears. There were others who got looks in the pros: wide receiver John Dunlap, running back/wide receiver Darrell Blackman and defensive back Miguel Scott. Blackman, whose 26.3-yard kickoff return average ranks second all time at NCSU, was a two-time All-ACC pick, while Hill, Morgan and Young received all-conference accolades. Then there was the feel-good story of quar- terback Daniel Evans. The local product of Raleigh Broughton was the son of legendary former NCSU quarterback/punter and ra- dio broadcaster Johnny Evans. The younger Evans threw for 4,004 yards in his career and had some memorable Wolfpack wins, including victories over ranked opponents Boston College and Florida State in back-to- back home Thursday night games on ESPN, the former on a last-minute touchdown pass to Dunlap. He also engineered a victory at the Or- ange Bowl over Miami, a home triumph over ranked Virginia and ended a three-year losing streak to UNC with a last-minute win over the Heels in 2007. ■ DEFYING THE ODDS Three Recruiting Classes At NC State Proved Rankings Are Not Everything Quarterback Russell Wilson, who was identified as a two-star prospect by Rivals.com, was part of the Wolfpack's 50th-ranked recruiting class in 2007. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN