2025 NC State football preview: The defensive line

Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images

Hey, do you want to see what a defensive collapse looks like? No? Well too bad, pal, you’re seeing it anyway.

NC State’s 2023 defense:

Ooh, lovely. Kinda looks like Australia. A group that was average or better in every single category above, and in the 75th percentile in 11 of the 16 categories shown.

NC State’s 2024 defense:

Gah! This isn’t lovely at all! Mainly what we’re looking at here is the complete disappearance of a quality run defense, as NC State was pushed around consistently in a way we have

not been accustomed to. The front six lacked the talent and playmaking ability that we’d come to expect from Tony Gibson’s unit, and the humbling results followed.

The decline in stuff rate (runs stopped for zero or negative yardage) goes hand in hand with a significant decline in havoc rate (a measure of disruptiveness) and the increased frequency of explosive plays allowed.

In an effort to turn this mess around, Dave Doeren is hoping that DJ Eliot’s system can at least be more disruptive, which starts with getting more out of the defensive line.

On the one hand, NC State doesn’t have a lot of bodies to replace up front, but on the other, Davin Vann was by far the defense’s most disruptive player last season, accounting for more than a quarter of the Pack’s sacks and nearly half its forced fumbles. NC State is going into 2025 without an obvious standout defensive end for the first time in a while.

Travali Price’s development last season was encouraging, and perhaps Eliot’s defense will allow Brandon Cleveland to be more of a playmaker instead of being stuck doing all of the (very important) dirty work in the middle.

Price and Cleveland are locks as first-stringers, and we could see Isaiah Shirley follow up on his solid 2024 debut by stepping into Vann’s spot. Wyoming transfer Sabastian Harsh figures to be a regular at defensive end as well, and I hope he ends up with like 12 sacks this season so that I can make a bunch of puns utilizing the word harsh. Frankly, I feel like the universe owes me this.

Harsh was part of an emphasis in the portal to add more pass rushing along with players with hybrid LB/DE potential. Both Tre Thomas and Cian Slone will be important at the EDGE position, and State badly needs these transfers to be hits.

Texas Tech transfer Joseph Adedire could add some juice at defensive end but may need time to come along after missing all of last season with an injury. Redshirt freshman Josh Alexander-Felton should be a factor here also.

As for who can serve capably behind Brandon Cleveland, I have no idea. If Chazz Wallace were that guy, I figure he’d have gotten more time on the field last season. The odds of a freshman getting a decent number of reps—Justin Terrell or Josiah Victor—seem pretty strong. I don’t know if that should be frightening or encouraging. Maybe both.

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