In a new feature to The Wolfpacker website, the staff will tackle three questions on a weekly basis tackling several relevant subjects pertaining to NC State athletics.
Here are the three discussions for this week.
Who is a wildcard candidate to emerge as an All-ACC contender
Matt Carter
The fact that nobody seems to think that redshirt freshman guard Dylan McMahon, who is actually in his third year in the program, is in a position battle for the job says one thing. It speaks to the confidence that the offensive coaches apparently has in McMahon after his first full year as a starter.
However, when he made the freaks list for Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and earned rave reviews from strength and conditioning coach Dantonio "Thunder" Burnette in a story we ran on the Pack's five biggest freaks, you begin to fully appreciate McMahon's upside.
He certainly has the genes. His brother Ryan was a stalwart offensive lineman for Florida State, starting four years at center. The hunch here is that the younger McMahon makes FSU regret not pursuing him.
Justin Williams
I like the McMahon pick from Matt, but I'll go with Florida State graduate transfer Cory Durden.
I'm not sure if he technically counts as a wild card, but I haven't seen him on many preseason All-ACC teams. The lone exception to that being the Phil Steele College Football Preview Magazine, which I tend to trust more than any other preview magazine.
Durden arrived from Florida State with All-ACC talent. The question is how much time will he get in what has materialized into a formidable defensive line rotation under position coach Charley Wiles.
While we won't know that answer for sure until we're a few games into the season, a press conference answer from head coach Dave Doeren earlier this week signaled that the Seminoles transfer is off to a great start in fall camp.
"Cory is going to help us a lot," Doeren said. "Right now, we're trying to get him used to how we do things. He's trying to get back in football shape. He didn't go through spring ball at Florida State, so he was rusty. He's working hard. He loves learning. He's coachable, I like that about him. He'll make mistakes, and we can critique him, be constructive with him and he wants to get better.
"He can play inside and outside in our scheme, so he brings a lot of versatility there similar to Davin Vann that way, a guy that can move in and out of our packages. We're very excited he's here. The next 23 days we have until we play a game, we're going to be important for him. But I think he could have a major role on our front."
