Tight ends are thriving in NC State's offense
Through three games, it is clear that the tight end group is a major focal point of new coordinator Tim Beck’s offense.
The trio of fifth-year seniors — Cary Angeline, Dylan Autenrieth and Dylan Parham— have been key contributors in the Wolfpack starting the season, and ACC play, with a 2-1 record.
Autenrieth is one of the leaders on the team, and he has been voted a team captain.
“Dylan Autenrieth is just kind of the Swiss Army knife,” head coach Dave Doeren noted. “He just goes wherever we need him, does things right, plays hard and does a lot of things behind the scenes with this group to help them get better.”
Parham has been the breakout of the three. He has made four receptions for 52 yards and was hailed by both the ACC Network broadcasters calling Saturday’s 30-29 win at No. 24 Pittsburgh and Doeren for his physical blocking.
“You want to use the talents of those guys when you're out there and to have the physicality on the edge that Dylan is showing us with some of his blocking in our zone game and our stretch game,” Doeren noted.
Angeline, who refers to Parham simply as “D.P.,” said that it has been to fun watch the former quarterback shining in 2020.
“He’s one of my closest friends here,” Angeline said. “It’s definitely been good to see how much he has developed and become a good tight end. He definitely helps us out.
"He’s a real physical run blocker, and he can do some things in the passing game as well. He’s been playing really well.”
Angeline himself is the most known quantity of the three. He was honorable mention All-ACC in 2019 after leading NC State with five touchdown catches among his 25 receptions for 379 yards. He already has three more receiving scores in three games this year to go with eight catches for 122 yards.
Angeline caught a pair of touchdowns in the win at Pittsburgh, which was redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary’s first start of the season.
“Any quarterback would love to have a receiver that is 6-7 that has the type of hands that Cary has,” Leary noted. “It’s really nice to see on the field.”
Angeline is quick to attribute much of his early success this year to Beck.
“If Coach Beck notices a certain coverage, or maybe sometimes it might just be the play that he calls,” Angeline said. “That’s kind of hats off to him for making the right calls in the right situation and just seeing what the defense is doing and adjusting.
"We definitely like Coach Beck a lot.”
Angeline acknowledged that it has been a long journey for him. He went from Chester Springs, Pa., to Southern Cal before transferring to NC State. He feels like he found a second home with the Wolfpack.
“I would say it was more of a culture shock going from high school out to L.A. than it is L.A. to here, cause I’d say here is a little bit more like home,” Angeline stated. “It’s been an easy transition.”
Leary can see Angeline being at ease with his role and surroundings.
“I think he is just very comfortable,” Leary noted. “He is confident in himself. He is understanding of all the concepts. He is a very good weapon that we have on the field.”
Last year however, Angeline was the one of the few tight ends to survive the year without injuries. Having Parham and Autenrieth both back healthy had been a boost to not only NC State’s offense, but also Angeline himself.
“I definitely think it’s nice to have all three of us,” Angeline said. “I definitely think as a tight end unit we are all playing well.”
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