NC State 2024 Defensive Backs Preview

NC State will get their 2024 Football season underway this evening against Western Carolina at 7pm. Before kickoff, here’s a preview of the Wolfpack Defensive Backs.

1st String

Cornerback – Senior Aydan White (6’0″/192)

Cornerback – Sophomore Brandon Cisse (6’0″/196)

Nickelback – Senior Ja’Had Carter (6’1″/206)

Free Safety – Senior DK Kaufman (5’10″/215)

Strong Safety – Senior Bishop Fitzgerald (6’0″/202)

One of the biggest highlights of the offseason was Aydan White pulling his name out of the Transfer Portal. White earned 1st Team All-ACC Honors in 2022, and earned 3rd Team honors last season. He hasn’t allowed a touchdown pass in the past two seasons. Last year he had 37 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 10 pass breakups and 2 interceptions. Heading into this season, White earned a spot on the 2024 Preseason All-ACC team. His PFF grade last year was 71.5.

Cisse earned the trust of the Wolfpack coaching staff as a True Freshman, serving as their Dime Cornerback. He recorded 10 tackles in 142 snaps. This offseason, he has added 14 pounds of muscle. The buzz around Cisse heading into this season is extremely positive. His PFF grade in 2023 was 69.8. Coming out of High School, Cisse was a 4-Star prospect, with ON3 ranking him as the #244 overall player nationally in the 2023 recruiting class, and the #4 player in the state of South Carolina.

Fitzgerald played 537 snaps last season, but he only started in 3 of the 13 games he played in. With Devan Boykin still recovering from ACL surgery, Fitzgerald is the Wolfpack’s starting Strong Safety to start the year. Last year, he had 42 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2 interceptions. Fitzgerald’s PFF grade was 65.6. Prior to last year, he transferred to NC State out of the JUCO ranks.

Carter transferred in from Ohio St. this offseason. Last year, Carter played in 8 games as a reserve for the Buckeyes, recording 5 tackles. Before Ohio St., Carter played his first 3 seasons at Syracuse. In 2022, Carter earned All-ACC Honorable Mention, and as a Freshman, he earned Freshman All-American honors. ON3 ranked Carter as the #4 Safety in the Transfer Portal this offseason.

Kaufman transferred in from Auburn this offseason. Starting isn’t new to DK, having started 18 games at Auburn over the past three seasons. He’s played 1,369 collegiate snaps. Last year, Kaufman had 37 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery and 2 forced fumbles. His PFF grade was 68.8. Coming out of High School, Kaufman was a 4-star prospect, and Rivals ranked him as the #186 overall player nationally in the 2020 recruiting class, the #11 Safety and the #9 player in the state of Louisiana.

If I had to pick a strongest position group on this NC State team, I might go with the Defensive Backs, followed up closely by the Wide Receivers.

2nd String

Cornerback – Senior Corey Coley (6’1″/188)

Cornerback – Junior Devon Marshall (5’11″/200)

Nickelback – Redshirt Freshman Tamarcus Cooley (5’11″/205)

Free Safety – Redshirt Junior Rente Hinton (6’3″/211)

Strong Safety – Redshirt Senior KJ Martin (6’2″/200)

Coley has an “or” in between his name and Cisse’s name, which is a testament to what the coaching staff things of him. He transferred in from Maryland this offseason. Coley played in 11 games for Maryland this past year, starting in 2, finishing with 9 tackles and 2 pass breakups. He played 305 snaps, earning a PFF grade of 61.3. Coley has played 826 snaps in his collegiate career.

Marshall transferred in from Villanova this offseason. Marshall played in 13 games for the Wildcats this past year as a True Sophomore, collecting 47 tackles and 11 pass breakups. His PFF grade this season was a solid one 76.4, and his Coverage grade was an even more impressive 78.8.

Cooley was originally verbally committed to NC State in their 2023 recruiting class, before flipping to Maryland. Rivals ranked Cooley as the #19 player in the state of North Carolina in the 2023 recruiting class. He was high school teammates with NC State Wide Receiver Noah Rogers right down the road at Rolesville High School.

Hinton has moved from Cornerback to Free Safety this offseason. Prior to the 2023 season, Hinton transferred to NC State out of the JUCO ranks, as the #36 JUCO player nationally according to ON3. Hinton had a rough first year in Raleigh last year, posting a PFF grade of 48.3, which was the worst grade of any Wolfpack defender.

Martin transferred in this offseason from Akron. Before Akron, Martin played his first 3 seasons at West Virginia. In fact, Wolfpack Defensive Coordinator Tony Gibson recruited him to play for the Mountaineers. Unfortunately, he never got to play for Gibby, because he took a coaching job at NC State. Now he finally gets to play for him. As a Freshman at WVU, Martin earned PFF Freshman All-American honors. This past season at Akron, Martin Jr. recorded 45 tackles, 2 interceptions and 6 pass breakups for Akron, starting in 9 of the 11 games he played in. His PFF Grade was 68.9. Martin earned a spot on the 2023 All-MAC Third Team.

3rd String

Cornerback – Redshirt Sophomore Jackson Vick (6’0″/183)

Vick has received quite a bit of buzz and praise from the coaching staff during Fall Camp.

Make sure to check out our other position group previews:

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends