NC State’s Lack of NFL Draft Picks Recently is Alarming

Since 2020, only 9 Wolfpack players have heard their names called in the NFL Draft, which ranks 14th out of 17 the ACC.

1) Clemson – 29
2) Miami – 23
3) Pitt – 20
4) UNC – 19
4) FSU – 19
6) Virginia Tech – 15
6) Stanford – 15
8) Louisville – 13
9) Cal – 11
10) Wake Forest – 10
10) Syracuse – 10
10) Boston College – 10
13) NC State – 9
15) SMU – 8
8) Duke – 7
16) Georgia Tech – 6
16) UVA – 6

To put it bluntly, ranking 14th in the ACC in producing NFL Draft Picks over the past 6 years is a bad look. When High School players and players in the Transfer Portal are looking for a school to land at, finding a program that can put players in the NFL is a high priority.

This year, Left Tackle Anthony Belton was the only NC State player to be drafted last weekend. The Green Bay Packers drafted Belton with the 54th overall pick in the 2nd round.

1) Miami- 7
2) Virginia Tech- 5
3) Cal- 4
3) Syracuse- 4
5) Boston College- 3
5) Clemson- 3
5) Louisville- 3
5) Pitt- 3
9) Florida State- 2
9) Georgia Tech- 2
9) SMU- 2
12) North Carolina- 1
12) NC State- 1
12) Stanford- 1
12) Virginia- 1
16) Duke- 0
16) Wake Forest- 0

Earlier in Dave Doeren’s tenure, there was a 4-year stretch, from 2016-19, where the Wolfpack saw 17 players drafted, which ranked 3rd in the ACC in that span.

1) Clemson – 24
2) Miami – 22
3) NC State – 17
4) Stanford – 16
5) FSU – 14
6) Virginia Tech – 12
7) Boston College – 11
8) Pitt – 10
8) UNC – 10
10) Cal – 9
11) Louisville – 7
12) UVA – 5
13) Wake Forest – 4
14) Georgia Tech – 3
14) Syracuse – 3
14) SMU – 3
17) Duke – 1

Despite NC State’s lack of recent NFL Draft Picks, the Wolfpack’s winning percentage from 2020-2025 is greater than it’s winning percentage from 2016-2019.

2016-19: 32-20 (61.5%)

2020-25: 40-23 (63.5%)

Point being, producing NFL Draft picks doesn’t equal success at the collegiate level.

With that being said, NC State needs to increase their production of NFL Draft Picks if they want to raise the level of talent they bring into the program.