PFF: NC State’s Top-5 Offensive & Defensive Graded Players Against Wake Forest

NC State defeated Wake Forest 45-42 on Saturday night in a season opening victory. Here’s a look at the Wolfpack’s Top-5 graded players according to ProFootballFocus.

Offense

1. Sophomore Running Back Zonovan Knight – Overall – 79.2/Run – 76.9/Pass – 76.6
2. Redshirt Junior Center Grant Gibson – Overall – 77.8/Pass Block – 82.1/Run Block – 72.2
3. Sophomore Left Guard Ikem Ekwonu – Overall – 74.3/Pass Block – 63.0/Run Block – 75.2
4. Redshirt Senior Right Tackle Justin Witt – Overall – 73.9/Pass Block – 78.3/Run Block – 69.6
5. Redshirt Sophomore Wide Receiver Devin Carter – Overall – 73.0/Pass – 76.7/Run Block – 46.4

Defense

1. Junior Defensive Tackle Alim McNeil – Overall – 89.9/Run Defense – 91.4/Pass Rush – 67.1/Tackling – 72.4
2. Redshirt Sophomore Cornerback Malik Dunlap – Overall – 75.4/Coverage – 75.0/Tackling – 73.5
3. Redshirt Junior Linebacker Isaiah Moore – Overall – 73.8/Run Defense – 84.3/Coverage – 62.3/Tackling 56.6/Pass Rush – 52.4.
4. Redshirt Freshman Cornerback Shyheim Battle – Overall – 64.8/Run Defense – 53.3/Tackling 78.8/Coverage – 64.5
5. Sophomore Linebacker Drake Thomas – Overall – 64.1/Run Defense – 64.0/Tackling – 52.4/Pass Rush – 53.8/Coverage – 66.4

Week 3 Notes

• Zonovan Knight’s overall grade of 79.2 was the 2nd best in the ACC.
• Redshirt Junior Quarterback Bailey Hockman’s overall grade of 68.9 ranked 5th in the ACC.
• Devin Carter’s overall grade ranked 5th in the ACC.
• 4 of NC State’s offensive linemen ranked in the Top-10 (Gibson, Ekwonu, Riley, Witt)
  • Grant Gibson’s overall grade ranked 2nd out of all ACC Offensive Linemen, and 1st among Centers.
  • Ikem Ekwonu’s overall grade ranked 1st among Guards, and Redshirt Graduate Joe Sculthorpe ranked 4th (68.2).
  • Justin Witt ranked 4th our of all Tackles, and Redshirt Graduate Tyrone Riley ranked 5th (73.0).
• Redshirt Graduate Tight End Dylan Parham ranked 5th out of all Tight Ends (69.4).
• Alim McNeil ranked 3rd out of all Interior Defensive Linemen.
• Isaiah Moore ranked 6th out of all Linebackers.
• Malik Dunlap ranked 3rd out of all Cornerbacks.

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