The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/846301
112 ■ THE WOLFPACKER FOOTBALL PREVIEW 2017 DEFENSIVE PLAYER TO WATCH Bradley Chubb, Sr., DE On March 1, NC State senior defensive end Bradley Chubb could have been getting ready for the NFL Combine that week in Indianapolis, but instead he was beginning spring practices with the Wolfpack. Chubb had the difficult decision of either turning pro or returning for his senior year at NC State, and he chose the latter shortly after the Camping World Indepen- dence Bowl victory against Vanderbilt. The 6-4, 275-pound Chubb earned second-team All-ACC honors in 2016 after tallying 58 total stops, 22 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. He ranked fourth nationally in tackles for loss and 19th in sacks. Pro Football Focus named Chubb the No. 16 overall returning player in college football. "Throughout the whole process, I felt like I need to work on some little things," Chubb said. "I came back to just im- prove those things." Chubb thought that if NC State can better its 7-6 mark of a year ago, it would only help him in the process. "I came back for both myself and for this team," Chubb said. "I love everybody on this team, and I just wanted to finish what we started." Head coach Dave Doeren knows Chubb was his biggest "recruit" for the 2017 season. "The thing I am most proud of with Bradley is how he did it," Doeren said. "He took his time, and he got all his information. He talked to the people that mattered most to him — his family and brother. He made it for the right reasons. "He knew there were things he could do to improve his stock. He knew he could get closer to being a college graduate." The ACC was loaded with quality defensive ends last year, and a few turned professional. Chubb and Boston College defensive end Harold Landry both decided to return to college, and they could be battling for the conference's sack title in 2017. Landry led the league with 16 this past fall. If the defensive end ranks thinned out in any ways from last year both in the ACC and nationally, that will surely help out Chubb next April when the 2018 NFL Draft rolls around. "When you move from fourth or fifth in the draft at your position group to first or second, you are talking $20 million," Doeren said. "He knows the financial end of that. If he does what he is supposed to do, it can be life changing." Chubb said his decision to return was mostly for football reasons. He knows he could get his degree down the road if he had turned pro, but he just wanted one more chance to improve the Pack's standing. "I want to prove something to myself and the whole world," Chubb said. Senior defensive end Bradley Chubb was rated the No. 16 overall returning player in college football by Pro Football Focus. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP