3/15/2021 football Edit

Cory Durden considered one of the nation's top transfers

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Cory Durden announced his decision to transfer to NC State from Florida State in December and could make a big impact on the Wolfpack defensive line this fall.

The 6-5, 305-pounder is already considered one of the top transfers in the country.

Most recently, Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked Durden No. 11 in its top 30 countdown of the best college football transfers in 2021. Here's what PFF had to say about the Pack transfer:

NC State Wolfpack football Cory Durden — Redshirt junior defensive tackle Cory Durden had a career-high 39 tackles and five sacks in 2019. (Gene Williams/Warchant)

"Durden plays with a high motor and has unbelievable quicks for a 6-foot-5, 315-pound man," PFF said in the article. "That said, he has so much to work on from a technical standpoint and is often errant; it works out for him sometimes — but not always.

"Take his 2019 campaign, for example. That year, Durden produced an 81.7 pass-rushing grade, a 17 percent win rate and 45 pressures. All of those were top-10 marks among Power Five interior defensive linemen.

"But in the run game, Durden ranked dead last among the same group in total negative grades while ranking in the top 10 in positives. He also missed 16 total tackles on 48 attempts overall on the year.

"In 2020, Durden was limited due to injury; it was quite clear he wasn’t his normal self, as he recorded a 52.7 PFF grade on 207 snaps. The moral of the story is: If Durden is healthy, expect him to make as many big-time plays as any interior defender in the Power Five, but if he hasn’t improved technically, be ready for a boatload of mistakes to go along with it."

He'll have big shoes to fill at NC State where he'll likely compete for the starting nose tackle role which last season belonged to junior nose tackle Alim McNeill, who declared for the 2021 NFL Draft last December.

Durden will have two seasons of eligibility remaining beginning this year. The former Seminole is completing his undergraduate degree at Florida State this spring before officially making the move to Raleigh.

Durden was a two-year starter at Florida State before injuries sidelined him for the majority of the 2020 season. Over three years, he tallied 68 tackles, 13 for loss, 7.5 sacks and two forced fumbles over 26 contests.

Durden was a three-star recruit from Newberry (Fla.) High School that had offers from Florida State, NC State, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, Miami, Oklahoma and Duke, among others.

He was considered the No. 66 overall prospect in the state of Florida and No. 22 defensive tackle nationally in the 2017 class according to Rivals.