The Arrival of MJ Morris

The plan entering the 2022 season was more than likely to Redshirt True Freshman NC State Quarterback MJ Morris.

Devin Leary was returning at QB, and he was the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.

Entering this season, there wasn’t much of a thought that Leary would be back in 2023. The expectation was that he would be long gone in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Graduate Transfer Jack Chambers was here from Charleston Southern. In Chambers, you had a player with 4 years of football experience, albeit at a lower level.

Not to mention, Morris wasn’t an early enrollee in January, rather he stepped on campus when Fall Camp began.

But when the Depth Chart came out for the 1st game of the season against ECU, Morris was 3rd in line, ahead of Ben Finley, a Redshirt Freshman entering his 3rd year in the program. Finley was also an early enrollee in 2020.

That spoke volumes on how quick Morris was able to pick up the offense, and how well he must have played in camp to instantaneously jump Finley in the Depth Chart.

With a player being able to play in 4 games, and still maintain a redshirt season, it was going to be valuable to get Morris playing time in 2022, with Leary likely in the NFL next year. The expectation was that the minutes would come in blowout victories.

That happened in the Wolfpack’s 55-3 victory over Charleston Southern. Morris was able to come in and play 12 snaps, completing 2 of his 4 passes for 38 yards, and rushed the ball 2 times for 10 yards.

Then Leary went down with torn pec in the Florida State game, and unsurprisingly, Jack Chambers was the next man up. He was 2nd on the Depth Chart, and was brought in for such a time as this.

Both Chambers and Morris saw action in the Wolfpack’s 9-24 loss to Syracuse on the road, but the former saw 67 snaps, and the former only played 4. Morris’ only pass attempt against the Orange was incomplete.

The next game against Virginia Tech saw more of a split between Chambers and Morris in the first half. At the half, Chambers was 6 of 13 for 31 yards, and Morris was 4 of 6 for 36 yards. Morris was more accurate than Chambers in the 1st half, and simply passed the eye test better than the veteran, and the Wolfpack came out of the 2nd half with Morris behind center.

Well, I think you know the rest of the story. Morris went on to lead the Wolfpack back from an 18-point deficit, defeating the Hokies 22-21. The True Freshman was 20 of 29 for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The last time a True Freshman put up these numbers at NC State was in 2000, and his name was Philip Rivers.

Morris became 1 of just 6 True Freshmen since 2014 to complete 20 passes, throw for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns, without throwing an interception.

It wasn’t just his numbers that were impressive. He was poised and looked like he belonged out there.

Morris was a 4-Star prospect (247 & Rivals) out of Carrollton High School (Carrollton, Georgia). Rivals ranked him as the #238 overall player nationally in the 2022 recruiting class, the #25 player in the state of Georgia, and the #3 Dual Threat Quarterback nationally.

As a Senior at Carrollton, he threw for 3,089 yards (63.1%) and 33 touchdowns (9 interceptions), posting a QB Rating of 122.8

Completed 186-of-295 passes for 3,089 yards (a 63.1% completion percentage). Threw for 33 touchdowns and had a QB rating of 122.8. Also rushed 109 times for 602 yards and seven scores. He also had 3 receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Morris came into this season as NC State’s expected starting Quarterback to take Leary’s place after the 2022 season. Morris was to next one up at QBU in 2023.

Sometimes the future breaks its way into the present in ways you don’t expect.

This is now MJ Morris’ offense. I’m not saying that Morris is better than Leary, but he does bring a dynamic to the Wolfpack offense that Leary lacks. Morris is a true Dual Threat Quarterback, which might be just what NC State needs to turn its offense around as they round out the 2022 season.

Tomorrow night, Morris will start at Quarterback for NC State, becoming the first True Freshman to start at NC State since Philip Rivers did it in 2000.