The Wolfpacker pre-spring projected NC State football depth chart: Defense

Last year, the defensive line was a question mark at this point of offseason. Joseph, a Penn State grad transfer, had not yet arrived on campus, and the young players were unknowns.

Fast forward a year, and the position shows more promise, even with the loss of All-American Alim McNeill a year early to the NFL.

Joseph proved to be a valuable addition to the defense, making a team-best 6.5 sacks and third on the squad with 10 tackles for losses. Furthermore, Joseph decided to return for a repeat of his fifth-year senior season in a boost to the Wolfpack defense.

At nose tackle, it figures that Clark, a promising redshirt freshman that had 24 tackles and three quarterback hurries while starting twice in 2020, would seem to be the favorite to replace McNeill.

The other end is a bigger competition. We went with Durden, a transfer from Florida State expected to arrive after the spring semester. Durden is 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, so it may seem unusual to have him on the outside, but Durden is an impressive pass rusher. He had 6.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in 2019 while starting 12 games for the Seminoles. In the three-man front, Durden may be well suited for the right end spot in a similar way that allowed Larrell Murchison to excel in 2019 before he was drafted by the Tennessee Titans.

There are other potential options however. Dawkins had a very promising rookie campaign, where he had nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks and made six starts. Jackson added 20 tackles, including two for loss and a sack, and was playing his best football late in the season. He also made four starts.

Not listed above is redshirt junior Ibrahim Kante, who made 13 tackles, including two for loss, and made five starts in 2020.

Backing up Clark at nose tackle, we went with either Vann or Harris, a pair of four-stars coming out of high school. Harris was a goal line defense specialist a season ago, and with improved conditioning could be ready for a larger role. Vann is the next in a recent line of freakish Wolfpack defensive line athletes who got a little experience in four games during the fall.