With NC State football’s early signing class in the book, it’s time to dole out some early grades.

Here is a look at the marks on the defensive side of the football (the offensive marks can be viewed here):

The one-two punch of three-stars Zyun Reeves from East Forsyth High in Kernersville, N.C., and Travali Price from North Lincoln High in Lincolnton, N.C., is a very good starting point for a defensive line class.

Price was one of the prizes of the entire cycle, a heavily recruited prospect who rejected overtures from Tennessee well after his commitment to the Wolfpack. Reeves also sported an impressive offer list and made visits to Florida State, South Carolina and Virginia — all of whom had offered — during the recruiting process.

Both are high-upside linemen whose best football are ahead of them, and they should be good fits for NC State’s three-man front.

Added to that group is two-star Jayden Tate, Price’s brother who may be undersized at 6-foot, 265 pounds, but is very strong physically and plays with tremendous effort and energy.

The Wolfpack did miss out on a few of the higher-profile names in the in-state class, but it’s hard to complain when you have Price and Reeves, considering their own respective recruiting credentials.

Then, there is the addition of Florida State transfer Cory Durden, a legit NFL Draft prospect entering the 2020 season who could potentially instantly fill some of the void left from the early departure of junior defensive tackle Alim McNeill to the league.

Grade — B+

It’s hard not to really like the duo of Caden Fordham from Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla., and Jordan Poole from West Stanly High in Oakboro, N.C. Both have been on NC State’s board since they camped in Raleigh during the summer of 2019.

Both are also impressive athletes, especially in the case of Poole, which is a very important linebacker trait to defend modern college offense. Their upsides are impressive and did not go unnoticed by other colleges. Fordham picked NC State over Louisville, and Poole signed with the Pack over Virginia Tech, with each owning multiple additional Power Five offers.

There were others that NC State pursued, including a late push to try to get one-time South Carolina commit and Raleigh native Bryce Steele before he picked Boston College, but adding to the one-two punch of Fordham and Poole is more like another layer of icing on the cake.

Grade — B+

A big emphasis in our grades is landing players that were identified and prioritized early on the recruiting board, especially in a year where evaluations were made very challenging by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent extended dead period. Having familiarity matters in this cycle.

No player may have been on the Wolfpack’s board longer than three-star corner Mario Love Jr. from Hough High in Cornelius, N.C, a known quantity since he was a freshman standout. Love was highly recruited with at least 20 scholarship offers before picking NC State, and he does not shy away from competition. He also has the benefit of playing at Hough, which competed against some of the toughest schedules in the entire state.

Landing Love also proved doubly important because of his leadership role in helping assemble the rest of the class. That included Love’s teammate, safety Sean Brown. Brown was another who had he not picked the Wolfpack, he could very well have been on a rival defense like Louisville or Wake Forest, both of whom offered Brown.

First-year NC State corners coach Brian Mitchell also has known Virginia Beach (Va.) Cox High three-star corner Nate Evans since the prospect was a sophomore in high school and Mitchell was coaching at Virginia Tech. Evans was one of Mitchell’s first offers when he was hired by Dave Doeren, despite the fact that Evans was committed to Tennessee at the time.

Finally, the Pack hauled in a local playmaker in three-star safety Chase Hattley from Panther Creek High in Cary. Hattley’s recruitment was slower developing than others in this class, but it’s where it finished that matters most. He ended up with Power Five offers from Florida State, Oklahoma and South Carolina, among others, before deciding to stay close to home.

Hattley’s nine interceptions as a junior are an eye-popping stat.

Thus in totality, you have a group of prep defensive backs that NC State is very familiar with and were all well-recruited. Hence, the Pack has to be pleased with where it ended up here, even before it added a transfer addition in Florida State safety Cyrus Fagan, a former Rivals100 prospect who was once an ACC Defensive Back of the Week for the Seminoles.

The only minor complaint to be had is having a potential NFL Draft prospect slip through at the last minute.

The Pack thought it had a likely impact graduate transfer in Darion Dunn from McNeese State, an FCS All-American candidate who has been touted as a player on pro scouts’ radar, but over the weekend Dunn decided to accept a late offer from Texas instead of heading to Raleigh.

Grade — B+

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook