With fall camp concluded, here is a look at The Wolfpacker's projected depth chart for the offensive side of the football.

NC State is expected to release its depth chart Monday.

No reason for any changes here.

There is no question at the top. Leary returned to fully participate in the spring after breaking his leg during a win over Duke last fall, helping erase lingering questions about his status.

During ACC Kickoff, head coach Dave Doeren noted the benefits of not having a quarterback competition heading into fall camp. Doeren said during his radio show that they are hopeful Leary can have the type of year they need.

Of course, it was Leary's job to lose last season, and due to Leary being caught up in contact tracing quarantine in the preseason, Bailey Hockman ended up starting the first two games. Leary took control after that and completed 66 of 110 passes (60.0 percent) for 890 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions before breaking his leg in start No. 3, a win over Duke.

This offseason, Hockman ended any potential debate about the starter by transferring to Middle Tennessee State.

The bigger question is who backs up Leary?

Will it be our choice, freshman Ben Finley, or touted early enrollee Aaron McLaughlin, a one-time Auburn commit from Denmark High in Alpharetta, Ga?

We continue to give Finley the edge based on his experience, which included completing 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown against UNC, although Finley also turned it over three times that game (two interceptions and a fumble).

Finley clearly looked the more comfortable of the two quarterbacks during the spring scrimmage, too. The question is how much did McLaughlin gain from his early enrollment and where does that leave him going into the start of camp? His athletic talents may be unmatched in the quarterback room, but his knowledge of the offense will dictate whether there will be a backup QB competition.

We went with the status quo from our previous depth chart.

It should be noted that Person started every game at running back for the Wolfpack in 2020, so the fact that we listed Knight as the starter should not be an assumed proposition.

Knight, however, was a standout last fall. He led the team with 788 rushing yards, 145 more yards over anyone else despite having the second-most carries on the team. He also ran for 10 touchdowns. ESPN's David Hale noted that Knight had the second-highest broken tackle percentage in the ACC behind NFL-bound Javonte Williams of UNC.

Hale also pointed out that Knight was the only player in the ACC with 10 touchdowns, 700 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards (136) and 300 kick return yards (373 with a score).

Knight was the top running back vote-getter on the preseason All-ACC team, and he has been named to the watch lists for Doak Walker Award, the Maxwell Award and the Paul Hornung Award.

Person ran 147 times for 643 yards and four scores in 2020, and just as importantly played all 12 games after a pair of injury-plagued seasons. He also caught 18 passes for 136 yards on his way to accumulating a team-high 165 touches on offense.

After a promising freshman season, Houston saw his opportunities dwindle some in 2020. He carried 42 times for 143 yards and three scores, but fans will remember his effectiveness in 2019 when he led the Pack in rushing yards in five games on his way to 526 rushing yards on 101 carries, an average of 5.2 yards per rush, and a pair of touchdowns.

That said, Houston ran well in the spring game, as did redshirt freshman Delbert Mimms III, proving running back should be a deep position on the roster. Houston has also cross-trained at receiver in an effort to get on the field more frequently.

Also, watch for promising newcomer Demie Sumo, who has continually earned praise throughout preseason camp from both Doeren and offensive coordinator Tim Beck.

Again, no changes from our previous projection, but it was tempting to slide newcomer freshman Julian Gray into the mix based on the strong reviews he received from Doeren and Beck after his impressive performance in the spring.

It was a breakthrough season in 2020 for the Wolfpack trio of Emezie, Carter and Thomas.

On the outside receivers, Emezie is returning for a fifth season after having the best year of his career, catching 47 passes for 738 yards and five touchdowns. On the other side, Carter hauled in 29 passes for 477 yards and two more scores.

Emezie (6-foot-3, 212 pounds) and Carter (6-3, 216 pounds) also provide excellent size for the Wolfpack.

Thomas had 42 receptions for 529 yards and a co-team high six scores from the slot. NC State also has good depth there thanks to the promising rookie season of Rooks, who hauled in 24 receptions for 276 yards.

The Pack has another option in sophomore Keyon Lesane.

The question will be the depth on the outside. Riley is returning for a sixth year in Raleigh, and after returning from a torn ACL in 2019 showed his best form late in the fall. He caught three passes for 53 yards in the regular-season finale vs. Georgia Tech and then added three receptions for 38 yards and a score in the bowl game.

Doeren praised Riley for his effort in the spring, although Riley did not participate in the spring game.

We went with Smith, Rooks' classmate, for the other reserve spot on the outside. He played in eight games last year and caught five passes for 69 yards and a score. Smith brings excellent speed at 6-2, 185 pounds.

Other candidates include redshirt sophomore Jasiah Provillon and freshmen speedsters Jalen Coit and Christopher Scott Jr.

One other possibility is perhaps Rooks moving outside since the Pack has good depth in the slot.

Doeren has made it clear that Parham has a sizable advantage for being the starter.

The former quarterback showed strong physicality in the blocking game in 2020, and he's a good athlete. He caught four passes for 52 yards in limited receiving opportunities a year ago.

The million-dollar question is what does the backup depth chart look like?

We have consistently gone with Jayne. He is not a familiar name to most Wolfpack fans, but the walk-on is an inviting target at 6-foot-6, 232 pounds and a good athlete (as evident by his inclusion on the top speed marks over the summer). He gave minor league baseball with the Baltimore Orioles a shot for two years coming out of Terry Sanford High in Fayetteville, N.C., where he caught 55 passes for 1,145 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior in high school.

Now Jayne is a 21-year old getting a chance to repeat his freshman year.

We have also made a change by adding redshirt sophomore running back Trent Pennix, who is cross-training as an H-back in an effort to find the field more often. The 6-foot-3, 236-pounder is a good athlete (also on the speed list) and has 16 career receptions for 165 yards and three scores.

NC State also moved redshirt freshman former receiver Christopher Toudle, who is now listed at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, to tight end. Beck praised Toudle's work during the midst of fall camp.

We've made some slight changes to the offensive line depth chart.

Among the starters, we now have Zavala at left guard and McMahon at right guard. The reasons why: most of Zavala's experience at Fairmont State came at left guard, and during his press availability he mentioned working well with projected left tackle Ekwonu and center Gibson.

On his radio show last night, Doeren also noted that McMahon could play either guard spot (and is destined to be Gibson's replacement at center).

It should be noted that it is still possible McMahon is at left guard and Zavala at right, or that McMahon starts at left and his counterpart is Eason, a high-upside lineman who has impressed the coaches.

Right tackle has been one of the most interesting position battles, but we have been consistently sticking with Speas.

The other change on the two-deep that we made was having junior college transfer Belton as the backup at right tackle, but we could easily see our previous pick, redshirt freshman Timothy McKay, getting the nod there, too. Freshman Patrick Matan also earned some praise from Doeren in the spring, and he could work himself into the two-deep at tackle.

Gibson being the starting center is the best bet to start, followed by Ekwonu starting somewhere, most likely left tackle.

Ekwonu made the preseason All-ACC team as the top vote-getter among offensive linemen, while Gibson had support as an all-conference candidate among some publications. Both were named to the preseason Outland Trophy watch list.

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