Football Recruiting Update – October 5, 2018

4* Athlete JR Walker (Clayton HS) Update:

Took official visit to State on September 29th.  Really enjoyed his visit. State is now his number one school.  He will be making his college decision on October 12th.

We have been in good shape with him for a while, so there is a good possibility he will be running with the Pack.

Walker transferred from Northeastern HS to Clayton HS over the summer and is now high school teammates with current State commit 4* DE Savion Jackson.

Team Personnel Update:

TE Damien Darden has decided to leave the football team. His departure will open up another scholarship on offense for the 2019 recruiting cycle.

Updated Stats for 2019 Commits:

CB Shyheim Battle: 11 tackles (eight solo), including one for a loss, and two pass breakups through four games. Battle has also returned three kickoffs for a total of 95 yards and a punt for 11 yards in 4 games.

DT CJ Clark: 52 tackles, including 35 solo hits, two sacks and three quarterback hurries in six games.

CB Jalen Frazier: 26 tackles (11 solo), including a tackle for loss, and an interception in six games.

RB Jamious Griffin: 109 carries for 1,172 yards and 18 scores, and six receptions for 129 yards and two more touchdowns in six games.

S Jakeen Harris: 30 tackles (22 solo), two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble on defense. Harris also had seven receptions for 121 yards and two scores, and nine rushes for 62 yards in 4 games.

DE Savion Jackson: 40 tackles (21 solo), four sacks, a fumble recovery and three blocked kicks in six games.

RB Zonovan Knight: 37 carries for 641 yards (17.3 yards per rush) and nine touchdowns. Knight also has three kickoffs for an average of 59.0 yards and two scores, and returned a punt 43 yards for a TD in 4 games.

S Khalid Martin: 41 tackles (21 solo), including a tackle for loss, one interception, three pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble in five games. Martin has also returned three kickoffs for a total of 130 yards in 6 games.

C Dylan McMahon: 30 tackles (19 solo), including a sack and two tackles for loss, a pass breakup, a forced fumble and three quarterback hurries in five games.

LB Jaylon Scott: 33 tackles (12 solo), including six tackles for loss and a sack, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and two blocked punts in six games.

LB Drake Thomas: 57 tackles (24 solo), a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, two pass breakups and an interception returned for a score, and has rushed 15 times for 116 yards and five scores in six games.

TE Chris Toudle: 5 receptions for 85 yards and eight rushes for 34 yards and a touchdown in 3 games.

2020 Recruiting Preview:

4* WR Josh Downs (a legacy NC State Recruit) from Georgia and 5* WR Porter Rooks from Charlotte, NC both visited Raleigh last weekend along with a slew of 2020 and 2021 recruits.

Downs and Rooks have hinted that they might be a package deal for college. This bears keeping an eye on because Downs has been very high on State for a very, very long time.

4* QB Harrison Bailey might be making his college decision soon.  He also visited Raleigh last weekend.  Similar to Downs, Bailey is from the Marietta area of Georgia, a place where State has a lot of recruiting ties thanks to our new safeties coach, Ted Roof.

Last Few Spots:

3-4 Spots left now with the departure of Damien Darden.  If I had to guess, 1-2 offensive and 1-2 defensive players will be taken (1 ATH, 1-2 Safety, 1 WR).

Right now it looks like this will be a combination of ATH JR Walker and a WR from Georgia or Florida, possibly a defensive back or two from Florida.

Historical Records:

Just looked at 24/7 Sports’ Historical Recruiting Rankings for NC State since 2002.  59 out of the top 117 all time rated State recruits have been signed by the Dave Doeren regime.

This is extremely impressive because the 2016 class was rated the #50 overall recruiting class in the country (7 players from this class have since left the program).