Quote :

"OL is a huge question mark for them"

not that they were particularly strong last year, but I'm pretty sure Carolina was returning all (or virtually all) of its two-deep at OL until they lost a couple backups recently, so (in theory) their o-line shouldn't be any worse

8/19/2015 5:46:35 PM

Yeah, UNC is roughly the exact same team with better (supposedly) coaches and coordinators.. new defensive scheme, etc...

Preseason rankings don't mean anything to me until the games are played.

8/20/2015 6:01:34 AM

http://www.backingthepack.com/nc-state-football/2015/8/19/9180061/nc-state-player-power-rankings-which-freshmen-are-most-likely-to-have

nice rundown of the freshmem this year and what we can maybe expect out of them.

8/20/2015 6:51:06 AM

Not sure where to put it but:

Quote :

"Ex-NFL quarterback Erik Kramer shot himself Tuesday night in a suicide attempt, but survived, law enforcement sources and his former wife said."

8/20/2015 8:47:28 AM

Wouldn't be surprised if he had some brain/concussion issues. That combined with a divorce and his son OD-ing a few years ago...probably not loving life.

8/20/2015 9:23:12 AM

didn't he play in the alumni game earlier in the spring?

8/20/2015 9:27:56 AM

He wasn't on the roster available here: http://www.gopack.com/news/2015/4/9/Rosters_Set_for_Wolfpack_Alumni_Classic.aspx?path=football

8/20/2015 9:46:12 AM

ah, he was there in 2014

http://www.gopack.com/news/2014/4/10/Former_Wolfpack_Greats_to_Play_in_Alumni_Flag_Football_Game.aspx?path=football

8/20/2015 9:54:23 AM

damn that's sad

8/20/2015 11:12:11 AM

Duke was a contender last year

8/21/2015 7:31:29 AM

Duke and UNC haven't been that far from playing in the ACCCG the last 2 years because the Coastal has sucked. Problem is this year they have potentially 2 top 25 teams. If VT can find anything on offense they'll be a contender, and GT should be good once again.

Duke is replacing the QB and their best offensive/special teams weapon, plus have already been hit with the injury bug at RB and on defense. UNC should be good if the players can ever meet up to expectations and Fedora ever stops the useless 2-QB crap he does early in the year that he inevitably always abandons.

8/21/2015 8:52:32 AM

Practice was cool to watch. I think the coaches smack talk as much as the players.

8/21/2015 12:45:35 PM

Are we going to be good this year?

8/21/2015 1:04:43 PM

no

8/21/2015 1:10:03 PM

^^ For DD and Debbie's sake, we need to be better than good.

8/21/2015 1:17:13 PM

and why not?

8/21/2015 1:17:39 PM

It requires a lot of pieces to come together to support well rounded attack and defense: O-line, WRs, running game.

* If the O-line is good (at least better) then it can support a talented set of running backs we have to lean on
* If the running game can be dominant, it can take some pressure of a young and underachieving WR corps
* If the WRs can be good enough to be a threat, it completes the one-two punch that opens it up for everyone

If any of those pieces collapse on us and we become one-dimensional like we have been so much in the past several years, then our entire offense is borked because teams will throw all their resources at stopping one attack vector.

8/21/2015 2:04:17 PM

I appreciate that well-thought response. I forgot I was on TDUB for a sec. So what about the TEs? Grinnage should definitely help the WRs a bit.

8/21/2015 2:23:42 PM

TEs tend to run short routes, so pulling defensive backs out of the box is rare against big short field TEs like we have. That said they should be good for creating offense and are, usually, for us.

Since we have a backup QB available to play if Jacoby goes down, DD should run him more often this year. His running should pull extra defenders in to the box, which is another factor that can help take pressure off the WRs to be productive for us.

The key is not to be one-dimensional. Back between RW and JB when we had those god awful QBs who couldn't throw their way out of a paper bag is a good example of how hard it is to be good at anything when you're one dimensional.


The defense showed huge strides last year when they decided to start being aggressive. With the new talent, another year of learning, and hopefully a renewed vigor towards the pass rush we should be ok on that side of the ball.

[Edited on August 21, 2015 at 2:37 PM. Reason : ]

8/21/2015 2:36:58 PM

Quote :

"^^ For DD and Debbie's sake, we need to be better than good."

neither is on the hot seat like you seem to be insinuating. but if i remember correctly, you were pretty fervent in your opposition to DD last season.

8/21/2015 3:02:39 PM

^^Mike Glennon was god awful? GTFO

Also grinnage didn't run "short routes" last year. He averaged 13.3 ypc. Hines averaged 13.7. The only other players with higher ypc had <100 receiving yards.

8/21/2015 3:14:11 PM

I don't think he was referring to Glennon

[Edited on August 21, 2015 at 3:26 PM. Reason : .]

8/21/2015 3:21:54 PM

MG came between RW and JB. I guess he was referring to that one season where we had BM and PT.

8/21/2015 3:38:37 PM

Quote :

"I guess he was referring to that one season where we had BM and PT."

Yes

8/21/2015 3:39:45 PM

That's my bad, when I was trying to recall our history of QBs I forgot Glennon on accident.

I meant the QBs between Glennon and Jacoby, not Wilson and Jacoby.

With respect to Grinnage, I don't recall him running a bunch of long routes, but catching short to midling passes and getting yards after the catch... But I could be wrong and I don't see any stat lines on the internet that break out his receptions that way.

8/21/2015 3:43:02 PM

DD has said numerous times the only part of the offense Canada isn't quite 100% comfortable with yet is the O-Line.

He has said that the WR will be great, Ramos in particular with Hines as well...that the RBs are beasts(evident last year averaging over 200 yards a game) and that the TEs and special teams will be just fine...

Defense is ok...we just have to outscore people and the WR developing and being able to get open on long routes is what they worked on all summer...JB in particular.

Offense will be fine if the OL can hold up to injury all year. That's basically a break down of what DD said.

8/21/2015 3:44:48 PM

yeah that's fair. If I had to pick one of the critical pieces to be most worried about it would (still) be the O-line

8/21/2015 3:48:25 PM

My 2 biggest concerns are OL (we have talent & depth, but we're young) and special teams (freshman long snapper, punter & kicker).

I'm not too concerned about the WR's - we've got Ramos/Alston/Cherry who will be juniors plus Hines as a freshman, Dayes out of the backfield, and then Grinnage (TE) & Samuels (FB/TE).

8/21/2015 4:02:08 PM

Quote :

"neither is on the hot seat like you seem to be insinuating"

I am not insinuating that either are on the hot seat...yet. And I don't think Debbie should be on the hot seat when DD doesn't work out. But this will be our best chance to play for a championship in the next 2-3 years. If we win only 8-9 games again this year, DD should be on the hot seat next year.

8/21/2015 4:16:02 PM

^fail

that was a horrible troll attempt.

8/21/2015 4:27:10 PM

Going .500 with our conference schedule and experience should be unacceptable.

8/21/2015 4:31:07 PM

Quote :

" if we win only 8-9 games again this year, DD should be on the hot seat next year."

Balderdash. What school do you think you are rooting for? We have had 16 combined wins in back to back years like 3 times in the last 15 years or so.

8/21/2015 4:32:04 PM

^I thought "we" decided to set our goals higher than what had previously been achieved.

Winning only 3 conference games would be an epic failure.

8/21/2015 4:40:37 PM

Quote :

"Defense is ok...we just have to outscore people"

It would be easier to do so if "people" didn't score so many points. Last season only FSU, GT, and UNC gave up more points per game than we did. And you can chalk up plenty of those FSU and GT points to garbage time.

When you're only #8 in scoring offense, you can't afford to be #11 in scoring defense. Both categories have to go up for us to do any better in the win column.

8/21/2015 5:06:58 PM

3-5 would not be an "epic failure"...it'd be a real disappointment. but this year's team isn't gonna be that much better than last year's team. i do think 5-3 is a pretty realistic goal in the ACC this season. and you're right...we do wanna shoot higher and achieve more as a program. but this year is not necessarily the end all be all for that. by all accounts, 2016's QB, Jalan McLendon, shows a lot of promise and the program can hopefully continue on a positive course even with a new QB next year. in fact, at most positions in 2016 we'll be more experienced and deeper than we are this year.

the ACC isn't even really "down" this year...the conference just doesn't have a consensus favorite to make the playoff. GT, FSU, Clemson are all legitimate top 15 teams...with the potential to be even better than that. the middle of the ACC, including us, is probably stronger than it was last year. teams like Miami, VT, State should all be better than last year.

8/21/2015 5:29:44 PM

These same people expected our freshmen to compete with 4 and 5 year players in year 1 for dd and then last year, they expected our 2nd year guys to beat the top teams in the conference so of course they will call for his head if we lose a game with mostly junior leaders.

8/21/2015 6:33:25 PM

Quote :

"I am not insinuating that either are on the hot seat...yet. And I don't think Debbie should be on the hot seat when DD doesn't work out. But this will be our best chance to play for a championship in the next 2-3 years. If we win only 8-9 games again this year, DD should be on the hot seat next year."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL, [no]

8/21/2015 7:00:39 PM

Quote :

"GT, FSU, Clemson are all legitimate top 15 teams..."

Eh. I grew up a Florida State fan and even I don't think they're are. They have 4 new offensive linemen and lost their Heisman quarterback. They have 2 scholarship linebackers (or something similar) and they lost a number of players like Darby and Edwards from their defense. Also, didn't Clemson lose something like 7 or 8 starters from their defense last year too?

8/21/2015 7:34:59 PM

yeah but they are Clemson and Florida State, they're going to have really high caliber players coming in to fill those positions.

If Clemson's QB can stay healthy, I'm not even sure they need to put a defense on the field to beat people. That dude is a beast. It's just a shame he's made of glass.

8/22/2015 9:45:34 AM

People that are only concerned with our OL and special teams have forgotten how vulnerable we are at LB and D-line. Yes there is promise in both groups, but we may have some real issues stopping the run unless some young guys have improved dramatically. Hopefully those guys playing against our good run offense everyday will shorten the learning curve.

8/22/2015 9:47:42 PM

I think the general consensus is that we're better at DL and LB this year, depth/exp is a bit of a concern but talent-wise we'll be better.

Street has apparently been killing it at DT and think he'll really help us getting penetration inside. And we bring back our top 2 LBs from last year as well as adding Salahuddin who was suppose to be our top LB before last season.

I'm not saying we're going to be a top 10 defense by any means, I just think our DL and LBs will be better than last year, just not sure how much better.

I actually think our starting 5 OL will be on par with last year, just a bit curious about our depth if anyone goes down. My biggest questions are special teams, Baumann was pretty crucial at times last year.

8/23/2015 9:01:38 AM

Cant believe louisville is not ranked. Thats some bullshit. If they beat clemson our battle of unbeaten will be crazy at c-f 10/3

8/23/2015 10:27:13 AM

Louisville lost pretty much their entire team.

8/23/2015 12:55:44 PM

rumors that McKever had to be helped off the field after sustaining a knee injury during Saturday's scrimmage. I was just about to comment on how I felt like we have a lot of talent and depth on the DL, even if it is rather young. Rose was solid last year and Nelson will hopefully be back to his freshman year form after being banged up for most of last season. Hill and Justin Jones (before getting hurt) were very good as freshmen last year. Street, Chubb, Holden, and McKever (if available) are all pretty raw but supposedly had strong offseasons, plus we have some true freshmen like Bryant and Roseboro that could work their way into the rotation.

8/23/2015 2:07:41 PM

http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll/2015/1

We actually got 4 votes in this poll. More than Texas and Michigan got.

8/23/2015 4:14:12 PM

Saw some chatter on twitter that the McKever injury was a "minor setback." So don't think it's as bad as "carted off the field" makes it sound.

8/24/2015 8:31:52 AM

someone w/ insider willing to post http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2015/insider/story/_/id/13476304/todd-mcshay-ranks-top-qb-prospects-2016-nfl-draft ?

Jacoby apparently #6

8/24/2015 1:19:13 PM

Quote :

"Top 10 quarterbacks 1. Jared Goff, California Golden Bears*: Goff has had a productive first two seasons (61.2 percent completion rate, 7,481 passing yards and 53 TDs), but he needs to get more consistent with his lower-body mechanics and decision-making while also continuing to add bulk to his frame in 2015. He's shown the ability to make NFL-caliber throws into tight windows, which helps him stand out from the crowd in this QB class. 2. Cardale Jones, Ohio State Buckeyes*: Jones displayed first-round physical tools and mental toughness during his only three career starts at Ohio State. To maximize his draft potential, Jones needs to win the Buckeyes' starting job and make his footwork more consistent. His quick, compact delivery -- and outstanding velocity on intermediate throws -- will help him succeed at the next level. 3. Christian Hackenberg, Penn State Nittany Lions: Hackenberg is the most polarizing prospect going into the 2015 season. Critics will justifiably point to erratic accuracy and subpar decision-making as proof that he is overrated. But he flashes enough good qualities on tape -- not-quite-elite arm strength and the ability to thread the needle on intermediate throws -- to make him a tantalizing prospect 4. Connor Cook, Michigan State Spartans: While Cook is on the leaner side (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), he's got an above-average frame and good pocket mobility for his size. He's a proven winner (23-3 as a starter), but his 58.2 career completion rate is a bit of a red flag. Far too often Cook misses the strike zone and forces receivers to adjust to the ball. Cody Kessler threw 39 TDs and just five interceptions in 2014. Christian Petersen/Getty Images 5. Cody Kessler, USC Trojans: Kessler appears to have the mental aptitude to play QB at the next level, but he must improve his velocity and deep-ball accuracy this season. He makes up for a lack of raw athleticism with great instincts in the pocket, displaying a natural feel for evading pressure. 6. Jacoby Brissett, NC State Wolfpack: It's hard not to get enamored with Brissett's ability to escape pressure and make highlight-reel plays. But substantial issues show up on tape, starting with his exaggerated release and erratic accuracy throwing from within the pocket. As it stands now, he projects as a fringe Day 2 pick. 7. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State Bulldogs: Prescott has shown the work ethic, leadership and drive that you look for from your quarterback. Where he needs to show improvement is with his field vision and overall accuracy. Because he plays in a system that gives him a lot of simplified, predetermined reads in the passing game, Prescott isn't as good as other QBs at going through his progressions. 8. Carson Wentz, North Dakota State Bison: Wentz went 15-1 in his first season as a starter, leading the Bisons to their fourth straight FCS title. He has quality foot quickness and mobility to escape pressure and buy time, but he needs to develop his lower-body mechanics to become more accurate when throwing from an off-balance platform. If he's able to make the necessary strides, Wentz has a chance to develop into a top-100 prospect. 9. Taysom Hill, BYU Cougars: Hill has a quick trigger and an efficient delivery, but his field vision is an issue. He has a bad habit of getting impatient when his first read does not provide the answer. And while he's a very good scrambler and accurate on short throws, Hill needs to work on his timing and precision on intermediate/deep passes. He wants to see the receiver get open rather than trusting he will get to the spot. 10. Kevin Hogan, Stanford Cardinal: As Hogan begins his third season as Stanford's starter, he needs to work on his throwing motion (it's far too elongated right now) and ball security (he has fumbled 19 times in 23 career starts). We currently have a late-round developmental grade on him. "

8/24/2015 2:03:12 PM

Nyheim's senior HiGHligHts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdb_Jym8LLM

8/24/2015 2:20:38 PM

^^he worked all summer on that. He even saw a specialist from what I understand to shorten his delivery and make him more accurate on the long ball and it apparently worked.

8/24/2015 3:40:17 PM