Dave Doeren is Expecting Safety Devan Boykin to be Back for the Final 4 Games

NC State head coach Dave Doeren shared last night that he expects Senior Safety Devan Boykin to be back for the final 4 games of the season. Boykin is still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in Bowl Prep last December. Prior to the season, Doeren was hoping that Boykin would be back sometime in October.

Another guy that grew up in this defense that’s unavailable right now is Devan Boykin. I walked by him in a training room and said, ‘Buddy, you have no idea how much I miss your presence right now.’ And he’s doing a good job from the sideline. He’s frustrated too. I mean, he is a great communicator. He’s a coach’s son.

He takes incredible pride in his preparation and process of learning the game plan and knowing the offense he’s defending and communicating well with the guys in the back end. So we miss him, and he’s on track to be back for the last 4 games. That’s what we’re expecting, and hopefully that’s what we’ll get.

The absence of Boykin has been evident. He was the 5th highest graded player on the Wolfpack’s defense last year according to PFF. His 54 tackles ranked 4th on the team, and he was tied for the team lead in interceptions with 3.

Boykin was NC State’s starting Strong Safety last season, which was a position of weakness Doeren pointed out in his weekly press conference this Monday.

If Boykin only played in the final 4 regular season games, he would be able to redshirt this season, and return in 2025.