The 2020 NFL Draft has come and gone, and the 19th and 20th former players for NC State football head coach Dave Doeren were selected.

The Wolfpacker looks back at the history of the NFL Draft in Doeren's tenure, which began following the 2012 season. Part I reviews the history from the 2014-17 drafts.

There was only one draft choice this year, defensive back Dontae Johnson going in the fourth round to the San Francisco 49ers.

Coming out of high school, Johnson was a well-regarded three-star safety from Pennington (N.J.) Prep that Rivals.com rated the No. 30 player nationally at his position and the No. 6 player from the state of New Jersey.

By the time Johnson was a senior, he was a starting cornerback, and he had 51 tackles, three interceptions, two pass breakups and a forced fumble in 2013, Doeren's first with the Wolfpack.

Johnson spent four seasons with the 49ers before bouncing around a bit. He spent parts of 2018 with the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals. He ultimately ended back on the 49ers roster in 2019 after a brief stint with the Los Angeles Chargers earlier in the season. He was re-signed by the 49ers after the season.

In six seasons in the NFL, Johnson has made 22 starts and has 161 tackles, including four for loss. He’s added two interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns, 21 passes defended and two fumble recoveries.

Although he went unselected, defensive tackle T.Y. McGill is still in the NFL. He played two seasons for the Colts, a year with Cleveland, split 2018 with the Eagles and Chargers and played three games for L.A. again in 2019. He has 25 career tackles, including five sacks and seven hits for loss.

It’s part of an impressive rise for McGill. He did not have a scholarship offer until NC State gave him one late in January of 2011, weeks prior to signing day.

This the lone season under Doeren’s tenure, and the only since 1997, that NC State did not a have a draft pick.

The New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick made it clear they were fans of Doeren’s program by drafting both offensive lineman Joe Thuney and quarterback Jacoby Brissett in the third round. Defensive back Juston Burris went a round later to the New York Jets.

Burris and Thuney were both recruited by Tom O’Brien and blossomed under Doeren. Thuney came to NC State as a generously listed 250-pounder from Archbishop Alter in Kettering, Ohio, who also had offers from Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and West Virginia. He left as NC State’s first All-American on the offensive line since Jim Ritcher in 1979.

Thuney is now considered one of the premier offensive guards in the NFL. The Patriots placed the pricey franchise tag on him in the offseason. He has started all 64 games in his career thus far, and this past season was named second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

Burris was a very early commit to NC State in the 2011 class, and at the time he had an offer from Maryland. He was ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 29 player in the state of North Carolina. He was a consistent performer for four years for NC State and started parts of all four seasons, intercepting at least one pass every year.

Burris played two-plus seasons with the Jets, and also spent parts of 2018 with the Cleveland Browns. This past year, he started nine games for the Browns before signing a free agent contract in the offseason with the Carolina Panthers. In four seasons, Burris has 71 tackles, including three for loss, four interceptions and 14 passes defended. He’s also recovered a fumble.

Brissett was a former Rivals250 quarterback who signed with Florida in a high-profile recruitment and then transferred to NC State in 2013 in one of Doeren’s first major recruiting gets. Brissett started in 2014 and 2015, completing 458 of 765 passes (59.9 percent) for 5,268 yards and 43 touchdowns with just 11 interceptions.

Brissett made two starts as a rookie with the Patriots and then spent the past three years with the Colts, making 30 starts. He has completed 584 of 975 passes (59.9 percent) for 6,442 yards and 31 touchdowns with 13 picks in the NFL.

The 2017 NFL Draft produced three picks from NC State, but the successes have not been as plentiful as the other years in Doeren’s reign.

Josh Jones was one of Doeren’s first commitments at NC State. He enjoyed a rapid rise at Walled Lake (Mich.) Western High and was ranked the No. 29 safety in the country and the No. 8 prospect in Michigan in the 2013 class.

After an uneven career at NC State, he ended on a high note in 2016 with 109 tackles and three picks and elected to turn pro early. Jones was selected in the second round by the Green Bay Packers, but his NFL career has struggled to take off. He started 12 games in two seasons with Green Bay and was then released. The Cowboys picked him for up six contests in 2019. Jones has 128 tackles in three years, including seven for loss, plus one pick and seven passes defended.

Running back Matthew Dayes came close to switching his commitment from NC State to Vanderbilt, but fate was on the Pack’s side. Dayes ended up sticking with NCSU, and then became one of the better backs in the school’s recent history. He finished his career with 2,856 rushing yards and had 40 total touchdowns. As a senior, Dayes ran for 1,166 yards and 10 touchdowns, becoming the first 1,000-yard rusher at NC State since T.A. McLendon in 2002.

Dayes was picked in the seventh-round by the Cleveland Browns but was able to make their roster and play 16 games as a rookie. He only ran five times for 13 yards and caught four passes for 29 yards while also earning a role as a kickoff returner. He ran 18 back for an average of 24.3 yards, including a long of 71 yards.

A year later, Dayes played seven games with the 49ers and had a 17-yard kickoff return. He was out of the league in 2019.

Jack Tocho was a camp revelation before his senior year at Independence High in Charlotte, and he proved it was no fluke after four productive seasons at NC State. He had six career interceptions and 26 pass breakups.

The Minnesota Vikings picked Tocho in the seventh round and he spent most of 2017 on their practice squad. A year later he spent parts of the season with the Vikings and Redskins’ respective practice squads.

He continues to pursue his dream, playing in both the Alliance of American Football and XFL leagues.

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