With the bye upon us, The Wolfpacker will use this week to re-examine the first five games of the year, during which NC State went 4-1, rose into the top 25 of the polls and won its conference opener over then-No. 9 Clemson at home.

We continue with our superlatives on the defensive side of the football.

During the preseason, sophomore Drake Thomas was overshadowed in the Wolfpack's stellar linebacker corps by the ACC's returning leading tackler in redshirt sophomore Payton Wilson and the undisputed leader of the NC State defense in redshirt junior Isaiah Moore.

Yet through five games, Thomas has been arguably NC State's best defensive player. He leads the team with 37 tackles and two interceptions. He is also tied for a team-best six quarterback hurries and has added two tackles for loss and a pass breakup.

You could make a case here for Thomas, as well.

However, we went with sophomore linebacker Jaylon Scott. It's hard to breakthrough in a defense that returned so much experience, but Scott has an opportunity after the injury to Wilson that cost the potential ACC Defensive Player of the Year the season after week two.

Scott earned the nod to replace Wilson, perhaps surprising some who bet that redshirt junior Vi Jones would be elevated into the startling lineup when Wilson went down with an apparent shoulder injury.

Scott has held up well so far, making 14 tackles, including two for loss and a sack, and adding a pass breakup.

According to PFF, the top-graded player on defense is Florida State transfer Cory Durden, who is now starting at nose tackle after an injury to redshirt freshman C.J. Clark.

However, we are going with redshirt junior corner Derrek Pitts, the transfer from Marshall. Pitts has started all five games for the Wolfpack thus far this year and has 20 tackles (fourth highest on the squad), including 2.5 for loss, and has broken up a pair of passes.

For this category, we restricted it to players who would have been either a true freshman or redshirt freshman under normal circumstances in 2021. The NCAA froze eligibility in 2020, so some freshmen or redshirt freshman on the roster would normally be sophomores or redshirt sophomore.

Like the offensive side of the ball, that restricts the eligible list of players rather dramatically. In fact, no such player has been in multiple games thus far this year.

Our choice is linebacker Caden Fordham, who assisted on three tackles when given a chance to play late in the 45-7 win over Furman on Sept. 18.

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