Ultimate dick move from NC State football coach Dave Doeren there, not releasing a depth chart ahead of the season opener with Virginia on Saturday.
I’m sure the news outlets down there just love working with this guy.
Dude is perennially on the hot seat; only reason he still has a job is, who cares, he’s the coach at NC State.
Anyhoo.
I’ve pieced together something approximating a depth chart for the Pack, so we can get a handle on what they have heading into Saturday.
Quarterback
The QB1 is CJ Bailey, who passed for 3,105 yards and 25 TDs, against nine INTs, with a 68.8 percent completion rate, in 2025.
The backups are untested: sophomore Will Wilson had five pass attempts as a freshman last year; the third-stringer is Tad Hudson, who put up middling numbers at Coastal Carolina in 2025 (1,253 yards, six TDs/seven INTs, 54.7 percent completion rate).
Analysis: better keep CJ Bailey upright and untouched.
Tailback
The tailback room is led by Duke Scott, who rushed for 581 yards as the backup to Hollywood Smothers a year ago.
Hollywood moved on to Texas, where the grass and the money are greener than is the case at NC State, apparently.
Davion Gause is the lead backup; at UNC over the past two seasons, he ran for 585 yards and seven TDs.
At #3 and #4 on the depth chart are Jonathan Paylor (five career snaps in two seasons) and freshman Noah Moss.
Analysis: talent, but no depth.
Wideout/tight end
The starting slot guy is Buffalo transfer Victor Snow (62 catches/88 targets, 821 yards in 2025), with sophomore Je’Rel Bolder (three snaps in 2025) at backup.
The starter at flanker is projected to be Appalachian State transfer Davion Dozier (20 catches/45 targets, 448 yards in 2025), with freshman Tyreek Cooper and senior Ethan Dowdy, who has three career receptions, as the backups.
The starting split end is JoJo Trader, a Miami transfer (13 catches/23 targets, 178 yards in 2025), with the backups projected to be Chance Robinson, another Miami transfer, who got 12 snaps at wideout in two seasons there, and freshman Jaire Richburg.
The starter at the Y receiver spot – usually a tight end, but State likes to put more traditional wide receivers here from time to time – looks to be Keenan Jackson (28 catches/46 targets, 281 yards in 2025), with Alcorn State transfer Tyran Warren (29 catches/53 targets, 506 yards in 2025) and freshman Amiri Acker as the backups.
At traditional tight end, the lead guy appears to be Montana State transfer Hunter Provience (11 catches/13 targets, 135 yards in 2025), with the depth including Preston Douglas (52 snaps in 2025), Ian Flynt (five snaps in 2025) and Vander Ploog (zero career snaps).
Analysis: a little thin, but there’s talent at the starting slots.
O line
One starter returns – right tackle Teague Anderson (727 snaps, 26 QB pressures/one sack in 2025).
His backup is junior Trent Mitchell (zero O line snaps in two college seasons).
The left tackle will be ECU transfer Jimarion McCrimon (866 snaps, 16 QB pressures/three sacks in 2025), with freshman Brody Smith as the backup.
At left guard is Yousef Mugharbil, a grad student who has 117 career O line snaps at the college level, with the backup expected to be Rico Jackson (315 snaps, seven QB pressures/one sack in 2025).
At right guard is Kamen Smith (426 snaps, 17 QB pressures/one sack in 2025), with Jackson as the swing backup here.
At center is sophomore Spike Sowells (350 snaps, nine QB pressures/two sacks in 2025), with the backup projected to be Daniel Cruz, who got 14 snaps in two seasons at Texas.
Analysis: not a lot of depth, which could be an issue for an opener on a summer afternoon.
D line
The #1 guy at defensive end is projected as Joseph Adedire, who only logged 95 snaps at State in 2025, but was on the field for 854 snaps in two seasons at Texas Tech.
The backups: Chase Bond (230 snaps, six QB pressures/two sacks in 2025) and Adrian Farrow (17 snaps in 2025).
The NT1 is Josiah Victor (121 snaps in 2025), with KaTron Evans (233 snaps, six QB pressures at Marshall in 2025) and Omarian Abraham (two snaps at State in 2025) as the depth.
The DT1 is expected to be Isaiah Shirley (344 snaps, seven QB pressures in 2025), with his backups to be Colby Cronk (no game action at the college level) and AJ Prim (ditto, about the no game action).
At what NC State calls the jack position – a hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end – the starter is expected to be Harvey Dyson III (451 snaps, 24 QB pressures/nine sacks at Tulane in 2025), with the backup to be Sterling Dixon (one snap at Alabama in two seasons there).
Analysis: repeating what I said about the lack of depth on the O line, this could be an issue for State on the D line in an opener on a summer afternoon.
Linebacker
At mike linebacker – middle linebacker – MLB1 is Popo Aguirre (304 snaps, 40 tackles at Miami in 2025), with the backups projected to be Zane Williams (44 snaps at State in 2025) and freshman Ziggy Moore.
At will linebacker – weakside linebacker – the top option is AJ Richardson (88 snaps in 2025), with the backups being Da’Kaari Nelson (72 snaps in three seasons at Penn State) and LaCorian Hodge (41 snaps at State in 2025).
Analysis: kinda thin here.
Secondary
The projected starters at cornerback are Brian Nelson (637 snaps, 34 catches/50 targets in 2025), Jackson Vick (632 snaps, 36 catches/60 targets in 2025) and Ondre Evans (no snaps in two seasons at Georgia).
The depth at corner comes from Ty White (37 snaps in two seasons at UNC), Jaren Sensabaugh (four snaps in two seasons at Missouri), Caden Gordon (35 snaps at State in 2025) and freshman Dy’Lan Johnson.
At safety, the projected starters are King Mack (493 snaps, 61 tackles at Penn State in 2025) and Ronnie Royal III (442 snaps, 46 tackles at State in 2025), with the depth coming from Tristan Teasdell (369 snaps, 25 tackles in 2025) and Brody Barnhardt (209 snaps, 23 tackles in 2025).
Analysis: good talent on the back end, in particular; starters at corner are solid, with depth a concern.
Special teams
Placekicker Kanoah Vinesett (48-of-49 XPA, 5-of-6 FGA in 2025) returns.
I checked that number on field goal tries, by the way – State, as a team, attempted just nine last season.
The punter is Arkansas State transfer Jackson Waller (41.5 yards per punt in 2025).
The kickoff specialist: Nick Konieczynski (65.4 yards per kickoff in 2025).
Analysis: underwhelming.
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Chris Graham
