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 reviewed the history from the 2014-17 drafts.
Part II takes a look at the past three NFL Drafts.
2018
The 2018 NFL Draft is one of the highlights of recent NC State football history.
A school-record seven players were picked, headlined by Bradley Chubb with the fifth overall selection in the first round, chosen by the Denver Broncos. Chubb was not a decorated signing for NC State. A three-star, he chose NC State over the option of playing with his older brother Brandon Chubb at Wake Forest.
Yet after his senior season in college he became NC State's all-time leader in sacks with 25, and he won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as college football's best defensive player. He was also a unanimous All-American, and his No. 9 jersey is honored at NC State.
Chubb quickly turned into a force in the NFL. In his rookie season, he had 12 sacks and 14 more tackles for loss. His second year was cut short by a torn ACL.
In the third rounds, defensive tackles B.J. Hill and Justin Jones were selected by the Giants and Chargers respectively. Hill was a three-star camp revelation, offered after a strong workout. Jones was a more touted, four-star signing.
Hill was a four-year starter for the Wolfpack and had 23.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He started 12 games in his first season for the Giants, tallying 5.5 sacks and six tackles for loss. In year two he started five contests and had a sack and two more hits for loss.
Jones turned into a full-time starter in year two for the Chargers. He had 30 tackles, including two for loss, last year.
In the fourth round, former Rivals100, four-star running back Nyheim Hines was selected by the Indianapolis Colts. Hines had turned pro after he rushed for 1,113 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior, betting his speed would help him stick in the NFL.
Hines had also ran track at NC State, with a personal best time of 10.34 seconds in the 100-meter dash. At the NFL combine, Hines ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds.
In the NFL, Hines has found his niche as an all-purpose back. He has rushed for 513 yards and four scores and added 745 receiving yards and two more touchdowns. This past year, Hines became a huge weapon in the kick return, bringing two of his nine punt returns back for scores. That's not surprising, as Hines returned two kickoffs and a punt for touchdowns at NC State.
Also going in the fourth round was another four-star, Rivals100 pick-up. Defensive end Kentavius Street may have been more known for his freakish athleticism than anything while at NC State. He had eight sacks and 19 tackles for loss at NC State, but despite tearing his ACL in pre-draft workouts the 49ers still took a gamble on him.
Thus far, San Francisco has been cautious with Street. He missed his rookie year and then played three contests last year, making four tackles (including one for a loss).
The third NC State pick in the fourth round was offensive tackle Will Richardson. Like Hines, Richardson turned pro early. The former Virginia commit was one of the last additions in NC State's 2014 recruiting class. The Jacksonville Jaguars drafted him, but Richardson missed his rookie year with an injury. He started two games this past season and played in 15 contests.
The final draft choice that year was fan-favorite and Wolfpack legend Jaylen Samuels. NC State was his only Power Five offer, and he received that after shining at its summer camp. The do-it-all Samuels would go on to set the school record for career receptions with 201 and become an All-American at tight end as a senior.
Samuels would score 47 total touchdowns in a Wolfpack uniform — 19 rushing and 28 receiving.
The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Samuels as a running back, and in two seasons he has rushed for 431 yards and a score and had 73 receptions for 504 yards and four more touchdowns.
One player not drafted was offensive linemen Tony Adams. Adams though managed to get a Super Bowl ring on the New England Patriots practice squad.
2019
When Garrett Bradbury arrived at NC State, he was a two-star tight end prospect. After a brief stint on the defensive line, he developed into the best center in college football, winning the Rimington Trophy in 2018 and was a consensus All-American.
The Minnesota Vikings took Bradbury with the 18th pick in the first round, and Bradbury would start every game as a rookie.
In the third round, the Cincinnati Bengals drafted former four-star signing Germaine Pratt. Pratt played two seasons at safety for NC State, before an injury forced him to redshirt. He made the move to linebacker and developed into a star, earning first-team All-ACC honors in 2018 after he nearly led the conference in tackles (104) despite missing two contests.
Pratt would start nine games as a rookie for Cincinnati, and he made 76 tackles, including four for loss.
Quarterback Ryan Finley transferred from Boise State to NC State in the summer of 2016, and he became one of the most prolific passers in school history three years later — throwing for 10,501 yards and 60 touchdowns. He earned first-team All-ACC as a senior and was then picked by the Bengals in the fourth round.
During his rookie season, Finley was able to get three starts, although he struggled and completed only 47.1 percent of his passes for 474 yards and two scores with two picks.
In the sixth round, receiver Kelvin Harmon was finally taken by the Washington Redskins. Many had expected Harmon to be drafted earlier after the former four-star signing and one-time South Carolina commit had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons at NC State and led the ACC in that category in 2018. He left after his junior season to turn pro.
Harmon would start eight games as a rookie, making 30 catches for 365 yards for the Redskins.
Another 1,000-yard receiver for NC State in 2018 was Jakobi Meyers. Meyers had been signed as a quarterback and flipped from Kent State. After losing out to Finley in the quarterback position battle, Meyers made a hugely successful switch to receiver. He was first-team All-ACC as a redshirt junior when he set a school-record with 92 receptions that went for 1,047 yards and four touchdowns.
Meyers went undrafted after turning pro early, but he managed to make the New England Patriots roster and catch 26 passes for 359 yards last season while making one start.
Punter A.J. Cole also went undrafted after averaging 42.2 yards per punt in his four-year Wolfpack career, but he made the Oakland Raiders squad and averaged 46.0 yards per punt in 2019.
Offensive lineman Tyler Jones, an All-ACC selection and one-time Mississippi State commit, is on the Denver Broncos roster after going undrafted but has spent his time on the practice squad.
2020
Two more defensive linemen were selected this year, headlined by Larrell Murchison, a former junior college transfer who was All-ACC as a fifth-year senior. Murchison, the first ever product of North Carolina's Bladen County to be selected in the NFL Draft, went in the fifth round with the Tennessee Titans.
Two rounds later, the Washington Redskins picked end James Smith-Williams, a local two-star product from Raleigh's Millbrook High who was offered after he shined at NC State's summer camp with his athleticism. Smith-Williams would add 60 pounds in Raleigh and moved progressively from nickel to linebacker to defensive end.
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