Why Ryan Finley Returned to NC State

Yesterday was a day full of smiles for NC State fans. Not only did the men’s basketball team beat #2 Duke, but Wolfpack Quarterback Ryan Finley announced that he would be returning for his Senior season next year.

There are many reasons that Finley came back.

In Finley’s own words, he said he was coming back to:

• Win an ACC Championship
• Finish what he started
• Earn his Masters degree
• Play one more season in front of the greatest fans in the country

Those are good reasons, but I also think that there are more.

Finley has a degree in Psychology, and earned it with a 3.8 GPA. He’s now earning a Master’s in Liberal Arts, while still boasting the same GPA. This was a calculated decision, not just emotional.

A slew of stud third-year Quarterback’s have decided to leave early and declare for the 2018 NFL Draft:

• Josh Allen (Wyoming)
• Lamar Jackson (Louisville)
• Sam Darnold (USC)
• Tanner Lee (Nebraska)
• Josh Rosen (UCLA)

The early exit of these fellas paves the way for Ryan Finley in 2019.

While he was likely a 3rd or 4th round pick in 2018, he could be looking at 1st round in 2019.

Man I really liked him as a round 3/4 QB. Could be 1st round next year though https://t.co/8zecht0FK4

— Stephen Letizia (@StephenLetizia) January 6, 2018

#NCState‘s Ryan Finley will be in contention to be a top-3 QB in the 2019 #NFLDraft.

Really confident perimeter and under-pressure passer. Excited to see him develop next year. https://t.co/j4oYsUIAvs

— Eric Galko (@OptimumScouting) January 6, 2018

Maybe Finley also wanted to leave his mark at NC State.

If he were able to match 2018’s passing yard totals again in 2019, he would become only the second quarterback to pass for over 10,000 yards at NC State, and he will have done so in three years.

With Finley’s return, he has the chance to be the first quarterback at NC State to lead his team to two consecutive seasons finished ranked in the Top 25. Rivers and Wilson only led their teams to one season finished in the Top 25.

Finley has a realistic chance to finish his career as NC State’s most accurate passer. Through two seasons, he has completed 63% of his passes. That’s only 0.6% behind Philip Rivers, the Wolfpack career leader in completion percentage.

He currently is 2nd all-time behind Rivers (144.2) in Passing Efficiency, with an impressive 135.6.

With one more season, Finley could finish as the most impressive quarterback at NC State besides Philip Rivers, and even more impressive than him in certain areas. He has the chance to leave NC State in a better place as a program than any quarterback in decades.