NC State Wolfpack football temporarily paused workouts on Monday after a cluster of COVID-19 cases were reported within the athletics department.

Nevertheless, the Pack is roughly three weeks away from its season opener against Wake Forest Sept. 19, and NC State has been practicing since the beginning of the month. Here is a look at The Wolfpacker's current projected depth chart on the offensive side of the football. (Click here to check out our projections on defense).

Since early in the spring, starting with a a one-on-one with The Wolfpacker, head coach Dave Doeren has made it clear that the starting job is Leary's to lose, and nothing has seemed to change that fact.

If anything, the potentially truncated, on-and-off nature of preseason camp has probably made it even more difficult to have a true competition for the starting job.

The strong-armed Leary threw for 1,219 yards and eight touchdowns with five interceptions in eight games, including five starts, last fall. However, he also only completed 48.1 percent of his passes.

Leary had some positive moments late in the season that he will hope to build upon. He completed 24 of 44 passes for 243 yards and two scores against Louisville and was 19-of-31 passing for 227 yards and a score at Georgia Tech.

Hockman started two games a season ago, including NC State's last victory, a 16-10 home triumph over Syracuse. He was 54-of-97 passing (55.7 percent) for 546 yards and a touchdown but struggled with interceptions, throwing four and having several more near-picks.

NC State also has a pair of promising, well-regarded freshmen on their roster. Ty Evans is a redshirt who is a former Gatorade Player of the Year in Colorado and an Elite 11 participant that won a pair of state titles at Palmer Ridge High, near Colorado Springs.

Early enrollee Ben Finley, a three-star prospect from Paradise Valley High in Phoenix, is the younger brother of former Pack and now NFL QB Ryan Finley. The younger Finley has earned praise from new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck.

Knight led NC State in rushing in seven of the 12 games a season ago and finished with team-highs of 136 carries for 745 yards and five ground touchdowns. That included a 53-yard scoring run against national runner-up Clemson. With improved ball-security and receiving skills, Knight could establish himself in the upper echelon of ACC running backs this fall.

NC State also has nice depth here. Houston paced the Pack in rushing in the other five games and finished with 101 carries for 526 yards and two touchdowns, giving the squad a highly promising rookie duo in 2019. Houston also caught 15 passes for 112 yards and could be a candidate to help return kickoffs this fall.

Then there is Person, the former Rivals100 running back who has battled injuries for two seasons. When healthy in 2018, the rookie proved he was probably worthy of his lofty blue-chip recruit status, running for 471 yards and 112 carries and two scores in nine games. He did not have the encore he was hoping for when he rushed 61 times for 229 yards and three touchdowns a year ago in seven games.

Person has missed nine contests over the past two seasons with injuries, but Doeren this preseason has praised the junior for stepping up as a leader.

Not listed above but likely to be in the mix on the depth chart is redshirt sophomore Trent Pennix, who ran 13 times for 55 yards and caught seven passes for 80 yards and a score a season ago. Pennix is one of just two players from Power Five conferences to score as a true freshman in 2018 and then again as a redshirt freshman in 2019.

Doeren also recently praised redshirt freshman Delbert Mimms. Like the 6-3, 233-pound Pennix, Mimms is a bigger running back at 5-11, 228 pounds. Mimms rushed for 1,232 yards as a senior at Ben Davis High in Indianapolis, Ind., and he is a former Vanderbilt commit.

There are a number of ways that the receiving corps could play out, but one thing that appears to be a given is that Emezie will once again be the go-to wideout. Emezie switched back to his old No. 86 after wearing No. 3 last year and will attempt to regain his prior form after he acknowledged not performing as well as he hoped in 2019.

In 2018, Emezie caught 53 passes for 616 yards and five TDs. Last year he had 56 receptions for 576 yards and two scores.

Carter, a physically imposing 6-4, 216-pounder, flashed as a rookie with 32 receptions for 456 yards, but he never reached the end zone. He did have one of just two 100-yard receiving games for NC State in 2019 with six catches for 140 yards in a loss at Boston College.

He will likely be challenged by Riley, who is returning from his second torn ACL injury. Prior to getting hurt, the 6-4, 225-pound Riley was one of the fastest players on the team. He caught 28 passes for 315 yards and two scores in 2018 from a reserve role while playing behind a pair of NFL receivers in Kelvin Harmon and Jakobi Meyers plus Emezie and seasoned veteran Stephen Louis. Riley had earned a starting role last year before his injury in the season opener.

We went with four-star signee Rooks as the other top reserve on the outside, but other options include redshirt junior Max Fisher and redshirt sophomore Jasiah Provillon.

In the slot, Thomas returns after making 31 receptions for 334 yards and three scores while battling nagging injuries. Like Emezie, his numbers were not an improvement over his 2018 campaign, when Thomas hauled in 34 receptions for 383 yards and three scores.

However, Thomas skipped baseball this spring and focused on getting healthy and refreshed after a grinding couple of years trying to play both sports.

Backing up Thomas in the slot will likely be Lesane, who caught 13 passes for 93 yards and rushed five times for 60 yards in his rookie season.

Injuries really hit the tight end position hard in 2019, leaving Angeline as the only healthy, available scholarship player there by the end of the year. Angeline had solid numbers of 25 receptions for 379 yards and a team-best five touchdowns, and some have touted him as a potential All-ACC contender at the position in 2020.

NC State missed Autenrieth, who is considered the team's best blocking tight end but only played three games — all of which he started — before being lost for the season. Autenrieth is also a valuable leader who was voted team captain in the preseason. He had three receptions for 40 yards prior to getting hurt.

Parham also missed most of the season with an injury, but the athletic former quarterback is a sleeper in the position group.

This remains the toughest position group to take a guess on the depth chart.

It appears likely that Ekwonu, who was a freshman All-American by PFF, will start at left tackle after his breakthrough campaign. Ekwonu started seven games a season ago, and according to PFF was NC State's best player on offense.

Other good bets to start are Sculthorpe and Gibson. Both opened every game they played in 2019, with Sculthorpe missing one contest via suspension. Sculthorpe has been touted by some as an All-ACC candidate, and he could team with Ekwonu to give NC State a strong left side of the line.

The right side is harder to predict. Witt is a two-year starter, when healthy, at right tackle, while Riley was the projected starter at left tackle last fall before getting hurt early in preseason camp. Eason has also been praised for his improvement after moving over from the defensive line, and all three warrant consideration for starting at right tackle.

At right guard, Speas is our pick for now after he filled in as a starter most of last season at right tackle following Witt's injury. He may be more naturally suited to play guard, but he'll have to challenge McMahon, a promising redshirt freshman who started the Clemson contest that Sculthorpe missed and impressed the coaches.

McMahon could also factor into the depth chart at center, as well.

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