Junior Alim McNeill was a 6-2, 260-pound four-star football recruit in the 2018 class that played linebacker and running back for Sanderson High School in Raleigh.
He’s now the starting nose tackle in the Wolfpack’s three-man defensive front measuring in at 320 pounds. The transition to interior lineman didn’t come as a surprise to the hometown star, however.
“I knew I was going to be a defensive lineman because that's what everybody recruited me for,” McNeill said. “They had me in the rankings for defensive linemen in high school, and I didn't even play defensive tackle. I knew what I was destined to play in college.”
Despite showing flashes early on his career at NC State, making the jump from high school linebacker and running back to playing in the trenches in the ACC didn’t happen overnight.
In fact, leading up to the Pack’s road matchup against No. 14 North Carolina this Saturday, McNeill remembered that it was in the same rivalry game last season when he began to settle in at his adopted position.
“That's when it was truly comfortable for me and I was able to do things that I was working on the entire season," McNeill said.
"Now for this season, I've been able to do that pretty much every game.”
The defensive tackle had a career-best two sacks and finished the game with five tackles, four of which were solo, in the home loss to the Tar Heels in 2019.
Even as a freshman, McNeill had his best game of the season against NC State’s archrival. He had a season-high four tackles and his third career sack against UNC in 2018.
His comfort level in the interior this fall has transitioned into tangible results. McNeill is tied for the lead on the Pack defensive line with four tackles for loss.
He also has one forced fumble, which was arguably the play of the game in the 45-42 season-opening win over Wake Forest, one fumble recovery and one interception, which he returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the 38-21 road win over Virginia.
Through five games, McNeill is the highest-graded defender among Power Five interior linemen with at least 15 snaps according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).
“The only time I see something like that is if I come across it on Twitter or if my dad shows me,” McNeill said. “I really don't focus on that, I just want to win ball games to be honest. I do take pride in being a great D-lineman, though.
"As far as looking at rankings and stuff like that, I don't really pay attention to that.”
Because of his position, most of McNeill’s on-field production doesn’t reflect in his personal stat line but rather in those of the defenders around him.
Take redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson, for example. Wilson had a team-high 19 tackles and two interceptions in the 31-20 win over Duke Saturday but gave credit to the defensive tackle’s role in forcing the attention of blockers away from the linebacker corps.
“He's one of the best in the country,” Wilson said of McNeill. “I feel like an offensive line has to gameplan [for McNeill] so much differently than they would against someone else. It honestly takes pressure off of us.
"They have to worry about him so much sometimes, it's hard to get to other guys because he's so big, so strong and so fast.”
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