8/6/2017 football Edit

Dave Doeren breaks down the Wolfpack defense

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

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Fifth-year senior cornerback Johnathan Alston is battling for a starting spot at corner after converting from receiver. (Ken Martin/The Wolfpacker)

NC State football head coach Dave Doeren is only one week into preseason camp, and much is left to be discovered. The team had its first live scrimmage Saturday, each string getting 25-to-30 snaps. That will increase to around 60 next Saturday in scrimmage No. 2.

Doeren admitted that there is not a whole lot of competition taking place for starting jobs, but the coaching staff is actively working to improve the depth. Throughout his 20-minute press conference, Doeren touched on every spot on the roster.

“We definitely feel like we are in a more competitive place than we have been,” he concluded.

Here are his thoughts on the defensive side of the ball, position by position:

Defensive line:

“On the defensive line, it’s who you’d expect and behind them seeing what [redshirt freshman defensive tackle] Shug Frazier can do. He got a lot of reps. He’s gotten better, but he’s got a long ways to go. [Junior defensive tackle] Eurndraus Bryant did some good things for us. [Redshirt sophomore defensive end] James Smith-Williams has probably been the bright spot when you talk about guys that weren’t out there on the D-Line. He’s finally healthy and gained some weight. [Redshirt junior defensive end] Deonte Holden is a guy that we hope can continue to improve as well. He got a lot of reps in yesterday’s live work.”

On the depth on the defensive front:

“We've got to develop a rotation, I think that’s the key. You can’t have four good players that are NFL-quality guys and then nothing behind them. I don’t think we have nothing, but we have to get those guys ready. We are going to have to play 8-10 guys because of the heat factor in the first games of the season. … It’s something I’ve always been able to do and something we’ve been able to do here and we want to continue to be able to do.

"We feel like inside Eurndraus Bryant is a guy that can play and make plays and help us win games. [Junior defensive end] Darian Roseboro obviously is a guy that can do that as well. The four [starters] that we have talked about a hundred million times and those two, we kind of look at them like six starters. Now is James Smith-Williams the other guy we feel like that? Is it Deonte Holden, Shug? That’s kind of what this next week will be I think up front.

Linebacker:

“At linebacker, I think there’s a good competition and a good rotation that Coach [defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable] has as well with [redshirt junior Germaine] Pratt and [senior] Airius [Moore] working at one spot, and [fifth-year senior] Jerod [Fernandez] and [junior] Riley [Nicholson] working at another.”

On the experience at linebacker:

“These guys, since they have stepped on campus, have been hearing Coach Hux talk about how he wants that position to look and play and they can speak his language, they can finish his sentences. There are really five guys that are like that. [Redshirt freshman] Brock Miller has been with us a year and has been really flashing at camp, too. We feel good about not just depth but competition. … I think mentally the football IQ in that room is really good right now.”

Safety/nickel:

“At the nickel spot [senior] Shawn Boone, [junior] Freddie Phillips and [sophomore] Trae Meadows have all taken reps with our guys, first and second group.

“It’s good to see [redshirt junior] Dexter Wright, I thought, probably play as physical as I’ve seen him play in the scrimmage yesterday. We know what Shawn does from that standpoint. [Redshirt sophomore] Jarius [Morehead] has been pretty steady.

"The transfer that’s in here from Tennessee, [junior] Stephen Griffin — even though he can’t play this year — has been really good in fall camp. I’m excited about just his demeanor and how he goes about his work. I think he’s found a good fit. He’s comfortable, that’s good to see.”

Cornerback:

“[Fifth-year senior] Johnathan Alston has had a good camp at corner, and that’s been fun to see him play again. He’s been out for a while. He worked with the ones and twos. [Sophomore] Nick McCloud has worked with the ones and twos. I think [senior] Mike Stevens has probably been the most consistent guy at that position.”

On depth at the position:

“At corner there are three guys right now who I think are playing good football. Nick McCloud, Mike Stevens and Johnathan Alston, I’ll put one of them in there and they are going to play. We've got to find a fourth and there are five guys that fit into that basket right there. I think that’s a big deal.”