NC State Football Recruiting Update – October 18, 2018
New offer:
3* Dual-Threat QB Payton Thorne from Illinois. I broke down his film on the recruiting forum earlier this week. A very intriguing prospect who is putting up huge numbers and has enormous playmaking ability coupled with great athleticism.
More on Thorne:
Junior Season Stats (At Napierville Central HS, his current school): 403 yards rushing with 5 TDs, 2,305 yards passing with 25 TDs and 6 Interceptions.
Sophomore Season Stats (At Matea Valley HS): Passing – 94-155 for 1,325 yards with 14 TDs and 7 Interceptions, 48 carries for 160 yards with 2 Touchdowns
His father is the head football coach at North Central College.
Thorne appears to be a great kid, as evidenced by this article.
A good quote about Thorne from a teammate: “He’s a great leader. He puts the ball where you need it and all we’ve got to do is run under it.”
Another good article about Thorne from Prep Analyst Tom Lemming.
He verbally committed to Western Michigan on July 3, 2018 – reportedly to join former teammate WR Jayden Reed at WMU, who is currently a freshman.
Another interesting quote from Thorne’s dad regarding the process of recruiting college football players (courtesy of Naperville Magazine):
“That’s true in most sports. North Central College football coach Jeff Thorne has an interesting perspective, in that he recruits athletes and is the parent of a star football player His son Payton was the quarterback who took Naperville Central to the state quarterfinals last fall as a junior.
“That’s a great question: Who can you trust? Because you don’t have to look very far to see coaches leaving institutions after a year for a better job,” Jeff says. “I’m not suggesting it is wrong for anybody to look for a better job. The problem is the athletes are the ones who are stuck holding the bag.
“So many kids, whether society likes it or not, are choosing institutions in large part because of the coaches—not so much the academics—and they kind of have that backward. Especially at the smaller school level, you’ve got to make sure you’re finding the right fit academically, and then make sure the other ducks fall in a row as far as liking the coaching staff and the athletic program.”
Payton has six Division I offers so far, including one from Western Michigan, and he wants to make his decision by the fall. He says it’s gratifying to feel wanted.
“I got my first letter freshman year,” Payton says. “Being recruited is definitely something that feels good. You know you’ve worked to get to that point, so being recruited is what a lot of people like.”
Season Stats for Current Commits (Updated from last week):
4* DE Savion Jackson – 51 tackles, including 19 for loss and five sacks
4* DT CJ Clark – 73 tackles and eight sacks.
4* DT Joshua Harris – 42 tackles, including nine tackles for loss and five sacks, and a forced fumble
4* S Khalid Martin – 48 tackles, including one for loss, three pass breakups, an interception, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, a 73-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and 27-yard touchdown reception.
3* RB Zonovan Knight – 54 carries for 830 yards (15.4 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns, two receptions for28 yards and a touchdown, 219 kickoff return yards and a touchdown and 43-yard punt return for a score.
3* RB Jamious Griffin – 140 carries for 1,695 yards rushing (12 yards per carry) and 22 touchdowns and seven receptions for 145 yards and two scores.
3* LB Drake Thomas – 69 tackles, three sacks, two pass breakups, one interception, which he returned for a touchdown, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. 15 carries for 116 yards and five touchdowns on offense.
3* LB Jaylon Scott – 49 tackles, including 11 for loss and two sacks sack, a pass breakup, forced fumble, two blocked punts.
3* C Dylan McMahon – 34 knockdown blocks on offense and 47 tackles, including six for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble on defense
3* CB Jalen Frazier – 28 tackles, one for loss, a pass breakup and an interception
3* WR Keyon Lesane – 26 carries for 171 yards and two touchdowns and 19 receptions and three touchdowns in five games.
3* TE Chris Toudle – 7 receptions for 105 yards and 14 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown.
3* OL Zovan Lindsay – 18 pancake blocks on offense. Defensively, 15 tackles, including six for loss, two sacks and a safety.
3* S Jakeen Harris – 42 tackles, a pass breakup, forced fumble, a fumble recovery, which he return for a score, and three interceptions on defense and two catches for 60 yards and eight touchdowns on offense.
4* CB Shyheim Battle – 27 tackles, including on for loss, three interceptions, three pass breakups, three receptions for 44 yards, a two-point conversion catch and 5 kick returns for 175 yards.
3* OG Ikem Ekwonu – 19 knockdown blocks on offense and 15 tackles and 2.5 sacks on defense.
3* DE Terrell Dawkins – 7 tackles, including four for loss and a sack, and a forced fumble.
3* OT Triston Miller – 20 knockdown blocks on offense and 13 tackles and three sacks on defense.
Departures from Team:
Since my last update, RB Nakia Robinson and TE Damien Darden have both decided to leave the team.
Darden greatly had his playing time cut when Angeline got eligibility and Robinson was the 4th string running back.
This frees up two offensive scholarships for the 2019 cycle, if our coaches wish to use them. One could be for another QB to build depth and one could be for another offensive playmaker (WR? – Possibly Isaiah Washington, Breion Fuller, Ja’Quan Shepherd, Mohammad Toure)
Injury News:
RB Trent Pennix appears to be fighting some kind of leg injury and has not played in several weeks due to the emergence of Ricky Person Jr.
Most rumors have him possibly redshirting this season. If he indeed redshirts, we would not be taking another RB in this class.
Newest Recruiting Graphics:
Tyler McIntire and his crew continue to amaze with recruiting graphics.
Several examples:
Quanvaris Crouch Update:
Crouch plans to attend our game this weekend at Clemson and will be taking an official visit to Clemson sometime in November.
In my opinion, his recruitment is far from over, but I think he is looking at Clemson and several other schools a lot more than he is State, but this weekend could open his eyes more.
He has been at State at least one time this season for an unofficial visit also.
Targets Off The Board:
Target 3* DT Ben Smiley committed to UVA.
Target 4* S JR Walker committed to Virginia Tech (coincidentally his last visit, albeit an unofficial visit before he decided his college destination).
