The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/846301
170 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ PACK PROS Changing Of The Guard BY RYAN TICE A fter the recent retirements of several longtime defenders, the Wolfpack's NFL reputation is now only on the other side of the ball — as Quarterback U. Fourteen-year veteran safety Adrian Wilson, a five-time Pro Bowler and the sixth NFL player to join the 25/25 club for sacks and intercep - tions, retired in April 2015. Former first-round pick Manny Lawson was released by the Bills in early September of last year and couldn't find a new home after 10 seasons with three different clubs. In April, fellow linebacker Stephen Tulloch officially called it a career after 949 tackles and 12 years in the league. Lawson's college linemate, former No. 1 overall pick Mario Williams, has not officially retired, but was looking for work as of July 3 after totaling just 13 tackles in 13 games and five starts for the Dolphins in 2016. He told The Miami Herald in December, "I don't want it to end like this," but after averaging 12.7 sacks per season from 2012-14, he totaled just 6.5 in the last two years. Wilson, Tulloch and Williams are all in the conversa - tion for the five greatest NFL defenders from NC State — Wilson and Williams are locks for the club — but the group moving on has shifted the face of the Wolfpack in the league to the position many of those stalwarts made money chasing — the quarterbacks. Only a handful of schools boast multiple quarter - backs in the league at the same time — but NCSU had four signal-callers on professional rosters last year. The Seahawks' Russell Wilson and the Chargers' Philip Riv- ers were both season-long starters, while the Patriots' Jacoby Brissett got pressed into action as a rookie for the eventual Super Bowl champions due to Tom Brady's suspension and an injury to backup Jimmy Garoppolo. The fourth, Mike Glennon, threw just 11 passes over the last two years for the Buccaneers, but inked a three- year, $45-million contract this offseason with the Bears. Although it sounds like a lot, nothing will be given to Glen - non, especially after Chicago traded up for the No. 2 over- all pick to draft former UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The MMQB's Albert Breer tweeted — even before the draft — that Glennon's deal "is basically a one-year, $16 million [contract] with team options for 2018 and '19." Still, three Wolfpackers enter 2017 expected to take the first snap of the season for their teams, something no other college can claim. According to Spotrac.com, Rivers (ninth among quarterbacks), Wilson (13th) and Glennon (tied for 20th) all rank among the league's top 20 highest earning quarterbacks and top 39 overall players. The 2016 numbers also anoint Raleigh as the undis - puted cradle of future NFL quarterbacks. While counting a pro towards any school he took a snap at (so Russell Wilson is credited to both Wisconsin and NC State), 16 programs had multiple field generals attempt passes during the 2016 NFL season. Ten of those colleges had multiple quarterbacks start at least once, but only four had multiple quarterbacks start at least three games (meaning many of those pro - grams had one QB who started just once or twice). NCSU was the only school with a pair of season-long starters and also the only one with two quarterbacks who opened at least nine contests. That isn't the only category they led the way in: Top Five Seasons In 2016 1. Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks For most of his first four years in the league, the Seahawks relied on defense and star running back Mar- shawn Lynch to win games. Last year — with Lynch retired for a season after an injury-plagued 2015 — Wil- son powered the NFC West champions' offense despite a less than ideal cast of skill players around him and an underwhelming at best offensive line. The lack of help resulted in multiple injuries he had to play through, but he still logged the second most snaps on the team. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Wilson was under pressure on 41.6 percent of his drop-backs, but he was able to accumulate a passer rating under pressure of 85.8, which ranked fourth in the league. He was the only player in the NFL to throw for 1,500 yards under pressure, and PFF summed up Wilson's campaign by noting "in order to understand how good Russell Wilson was for most of this season, one must un- derstand just how bad the Seahawks' offensive line was. … Seattle made the playoffs — and won a [postseason] game — with the worst offensive line in the league." PFF ranked Wilson as the No. 42 player in the NFL during the 2016 season, while he checked in at No. 24 on the NFL Network's Top 100 (voted on by players), the fourth straight time he has made the list's top 25 (he was No. 51 following his rookie year). Wilson threw for a career-high 4,219 yards while to - taling 21 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. He also added 259 rushing yards and a score to rank second on the team, just 90 yards less than leading rusher Thomas Rawls. 2. Joe Thuney, OG, New England Patriots Thuney and the Patriots were a perfect marriage from the start. A smart (the former academic All-ACC pick can solve a Rubik's cube in just more than a minute) and versatile player (he played every position up front during his college career) who was undervalued in the NFL Draft (lasting until the third round), he has been a steal for the team best known for uncovering hidden gems. Thuney not only started from day one, he logged more offensive snaps for the Super Bowl champions than anybody else (1,114 plays; 99.64 of the team's NC State was the only school in the country to have two full-time starting quarterbacks in the NFL last year with Philip Rivers (pictured) and Russell Wilson. USC was the only other school that had multiple signal-callers open at least six NFL contests in 2016. PHOTO COURTESY LOS ANGELES CHARGERS Category NC State Michigan State USC Baylor QBs who played in 2016 4 5 5 2 Games started (W-L-T) 34 (16-17-1) 31 (11-11-1) 30 (8-21-1) 9 (2-7) Passing Yards-TD-Int. 9,080-55-32 7,114-37-16 7,601-42-34 1,695-5-10 Rushing Yards-TD 377-2 87-4 59-0 209-2 QBs in NFL Network Top 100 (rank) 2 (24, 73) 1 (70) 0 0 Combined 2017 salaries* $53,575,189 $35,563,572 $31,470,246 $753,424^ Projected 2017 starters 3 2 2 0 Note: Like official NFL stats, counting only regular-season numbers * Based on cap hits according to Sporttrac.com ^ Robert Griffin III, who started five games for the Browns last year, is now a free agent