The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/976701
38 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY RYAN TICE W hen the 2018 NFL Draft ended, only perennial pow- erhouse Alabama — win- ners of two of the last three national championships — produced more draft picks than NC State, with 12 to the Wolfpack's seven. Two other programs tied for second na- tionally with the Pack's program-record total — Ohio State and LSU — but NCSU should receive partial credit for former wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who finished his career at South Florida, which would put them in second place by them- selves. However, it wasn't just the sheer number of draft picks out of Raleigh that turned heads. The three schools NC State was competing with for top draft honors had each signed a national top-10 group per Rivals.com annually from 2013-15, the three recruiting classes that made up eli- gible players. Of the other three, LSU had the worst average class rank for that period, checking in at 5.3, behind Ohio State's 4.7 and Alabama's 1.3. Meanwhile, the Pack's three-year aver- age during that span was 37.3, showing in- credible evaluation and development skills from Dave Doeren and company. The Raleigh-bound 2014 recruiting class, which produced all but one of NC A PACKED DRAFT NC State Set A School Record With Seven Selections In The 2018 NFL Draft Bradley Chubb became the fourth-highest pick out of NC State in the NFL Draft, behind Mario Williams (No. 1 in 2006), Roman Gabriel (No. 2 in 1962) and Philip Rivers (No. 4 in 2004). PHOTO COURTESY DENVER BRONCOS