Joly, Fordham, Cleveland & Bailey will Represent NC State at the 2025 ACC Kickoff

NC State Football will be sending four players to the 2025 ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 24: Senior Tight End Justin Joly, Redshirt Senior Linebacker Caden Fordham, Senior Defensive Tackle Brandon Cleveland, and Sophomore Quarterback CJ Bailey.

Joly transferred to NC State last offseason after spending his first two seasons at UConn. In 2024, he caught 43 passes for 661 yards and 4 touchdowns. He led the Wolfpack in receiving yards and ranked second in both receptions and touchdown receptions. His PFF grade was 70.5, which ranked seventh on the Wolfpack offense.

Joly had the second-most receiving yards among tight ends in the ACC last season.

He has picked up Preseason All-American honors from Walter Camp (2nd team), Athlon (3rd team), and Phil Steele (4th team).

Through six games in 2024, Fordham was not only leading NC State in tackles, but he was also leading the ACC.

Unfortunately, Fordham suffered a season-ending injury and didn’t play after NC State’s game against Wake Forest.

In six games, Fordham had 48 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 2 pass breakups in his first year as a starter.

Fordham’s PFF grade on the year was 73.0, which was the sixth-best grade on the Wolfpack defense. He had a tackling grade of 82.5, which was the second-best on the team (minimum 100 snaps). Fordham was NC State’s best pass rusher according to PFF, with a grade of 82.5. He also had the second-best coverage grade on the team, at 75.2.

This past year was Cleveland’s first season in a starting role, and he didn’t disappoint. He was the fifth-highest graded player on the Wolfpack defense according to PFF, with a grade of 73.4. Cleveland also had the fourth-best run defense grade (73.4).

Cleveland finished the 2024 season with 36 tackles and 4 tackles for loss.

Bailey was expected to redshirt last season, but after Grayson McCall suffered two concussions, the true freshman took over the starting role. Bailey completed 64.9% of his passes for 2,413 yards and 17 touchdowns (with 10 interceptions). He also rushed for 279 yards and 5 touchdowns. Bailey’s passing efficiency rating of 144.0 might be his most impressive statistic.

According to yours truly, Bailey had the second-best freshman season ever by an NC State quarterback.

ON3 ranks him as the #15 Quarterback in their 2025 preseason rankings.