RALEIGH, N.C. — NC State head coach Dave Doeren named starters after multiple position battles during his weekly radio show, including offensive line, nickel and special teams roles. This comes days after Doeren didn’t release a depth chart publicly for the season opener despite ECU releasing a full two-deep.
When it comes to the two offensive line battles, Doeren named Jalen Grant as the starter at center and Kamen Smith as the starting right guard. While Smith will be the starter on Thursday night, Doeren did note that Val Erickson being available in the second half after a suspension and could see some playing time.
“Jalen Grant then Spike Sowells, those are our two centers. Then we have other guys that can snap and play if it gets to that,” Doeren said. “The right guard’s been a lot of competition in training camp. Kamen Smith has won that job. But Val Erickson after the first half will be available and can play in there.
“Yousef Mugharbil has done a really good job and I’m proud of him for his growth. Spike can also play guard, so we feel like we have some depth inside. Rico Jackson has really emerged as a guy that we like at tackle. So if something happens, he can go in the game on either side and play for us. Darion Rivers has gotten a lot better. The o-line has improved quite a bit.”
Doeren then went on to heap further praise on Grant for his effort this offseason in earning the starting center role. Much of the attention this offseason was paid to Spike Sowells as a true freshman, but Doeren said Grant deserves his flowers, too.
“Jalen Grant doesn’t get a lot of focus as our center,” Doeren said. “But man is he a consistent football player. A two-time state champion wrestler, just a tough kid. I like his makeup and what he’s about.”
On defense, Doeren noted that Jackson Vick will serve as the starting nickel for the Wolfpack after coming on strong late last season.
When it comes to the special teams battles, one that isn’t being questioned is punter. Doeren said Caden Noonkester has been “fantastic” and can “be a punter like we’ve had in the past that can really be a weapon.” State will also likely use multiple long snappers to continue to find the perfect fit for the full season.
Kanoah Vinesett was expected to continue to be the placekicker, but Doeren noted he was beaten out by redshirt freshman Nick Konieczynski after a strong camp. He also mentioned be a new kicker handling kickoffs for the Pack in true freshman Charlie Birtwistle.
“Our kickoff guy, Charlie [Birtwistle] has won that job,” Doeren said. “He’s been tremendous throughout camp — hang time and distance, ball location — I like what he’s doing. …
“At [place]kicker, it was a nice competition throughout camp with Kanoah as the lead going into it. But Nick beat him out throughout camp. He just really impressed everybody with his consistency, his distance, his ball height, his ball flight. He has has just really good leg strength about him that puts us in a position to feel good about kicking longer field goals.”
On punt return, Doeren said Wesley Grimes and Teddy Hoffmann will both trade off duties throughout the game. Doeren noted Grimes has experience at the position while he believes Hoffmann can be a “really good punt returner,” but just needs the in-game reps before he earns the team’s trust.
The expectation throughout fall camp was that a running back would likely be handling kickoff duties this season, and one of them has emerged.
“Duke Scott is going to be our kickoff returner and I think he’s going to be fantastic back there,” Doeren said.
Wolfpack fans will get to see each of those starters in action on Thursday night when State opens the season against ECU inside Carter-Finley Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
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