Week 8 of the 2018 NFL season is in the bag, and 11 (8 starters) former NC State players were active. Here’s a breakdown of their performances.
Quarterback Russell Wilson (Starter) was nearly perfect on Sunday, completing 14 of his 17 passes for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns (0 interceptions) in the Seahawks 28-14 victory over the Lions. In fact, he did record a PERFECT QB RATING of 158.3 on the day, marking the first time in Seahawk history that a quarterback has done so. His ProFootballFocus grade of the week was 98.0.
Running Back Nyheim Hines posted the best running game of his young career against Oakland Sunday. Hines had 11 carries for 78 yards, and 2 receptions for 7 yards on the Colts 42-28 victory over the Raiders. He played 36% of the offensive snaps.
Hey @MichaelKistNFL… I figured you’d like this okay a lot. Inside trap call with your boy Nyheim Hines doing his thing. Beautiful to watch pic.twitter.com/HkP5o0tGUW
Tight End David Grinnage (Starter) started for the second straight week, playing in his 3rd career NFL game. It was the best game of his young career, catching 3 receptions for 37 yards on 5 targets in the Jaguars 18-24 loss to the Eagles. Grinnage played 44% of the offensive snaps.
Linebacker Bradley Chubb (Starter) had 4 tackles, 0.5 sacks and 1 tackle for loss in the Broncos 23-30 loss to the Chiefs. Chubb leads all NFL rookies with 7 sacks. He played 90% of the snaps against the Chiefs.
#Broncos Bradley Chubb (#55) is leading all rookies in Sacks with 7.0 but he’s also doing a nice job as a run defender. Complete package. pic.twitter.com/NlWhSnpRF4
Defensive End BJ Hill (Starter) had 6 tackles in the Giants 13-20 loss to the Redskins, marking a new career high. He also had a pass breakup. Hill played 62% of the defensive snaps, resulting in the most snaps of his young career. He has started 5 of the Giants 8 games in 2018.
Place Kicker Stephen Hauschka (Starter) connected on both of his field goal attempts (47 & 51) in the Bills 6-25 loss to the Patriots.
Left Guard Joe Thuney’s (Starter) start streak continues, playing every snap for the Patriots in their 25-6 victory over the Bills.
Left Guard JR Sweezy (Starter) played 100% of the snaps in the Seahawks 28-14 victory over the Lions. Sweezy has started every game for Seattle in 2018.
Left Guard Ted Larsen (Starter) started for the Dolphins in their 23-42 loss to the Texans, and has started in 7 of Miami’s 8 games in 2018. He only played 67% of the offensive snaps because he left the game with an arm injury. His status for this weekend is unknown at this point.
Running Back Jaylen Samuels picked up his first carries as an NFL running back against the Browns, rushing 4 times for 17 yards (4.3 yards per carry). He played 7 offensive snaps, and 9 special teams snaps in the Steelers 33-18 victory over the Browns.
Josh Jones had 2 special teams tackles in the Packers 27-29 loss to the Rams, but didn’t take any snaps at Safety.
Bye
Los Angeles Chargers Quarterback Philip Rivers
Los Angeles Chargers Defensive Tackle Justin Jones
Did Not Play
Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Jacoby Brissett
Arizona Cardinals Quarterback Mike Glennon
Not Active
Buffalo Bills Cornerback Dontae Johnson
Injured Reserve
Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Lineman Will Richardson
San Francisco 49ers Defensive End Kentavius Street
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin was ecstatic that NC State Linebacker Payton Wilson was available for Pittsburgh to pick up with the 98th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
“We had to get comfortable with his medical and we brought him in on a pre draft visit. We allowed our medical experts to really get a good evaluation of him. We talked to him about his injury history. We were at a place of comfort. And so from that perspective, man, we’re really excited about having him.” (Link)
“Man, we’re really excited about Peyton. When we turn his tape on, we see him making all the type of plays you need linebackers to make. He’s a volume tackle player. He makes plays in the passing game from a coverage perspective via interception and pass breakup. He gets after the quarterback in the blitz game. He’s got a very well-rounded skillset. He’s a fluid mover. He can run. Had an opportunity to lay some real up close eyes on him down there in Mobile at the Senior Bowl, we’re thankful we had an opportunity to get him. He’s got all the hardware that comes with some of those things that I described being a Butkus Award winner and so forth. We had to get comfortable with his medical and we brought him in on a pre draft visit. We allowed Our medical experts to really get a good evaluation of him. We talked to him about his injury history. We were at a place of comfort. And so from that perspective, man, we’re really excited about having him.” (Link)
“I think you could characterize it as surprised. I mean, he is an award-winning linebacker, Butkus Award winner. Had an opportunity to get really familiar with him down in Mobile as well. But the linebackers themselves weren’t coming off the board at that juncture. So sometimes they make runs on positions at different times and it hadn’t been a lot of linebackers to that point. I think what he was number five or so.” (Link)
“We’re really excited about Payton. When we turn his tape on, we see him making all the types of plays you need linebackers to make. He’s a volume tackle player. He makes plays in the passing game from a coverage perspective via interception and pass breakup. He gets after the quarterback in the blitz game. He’s got a very well-rounded skill set. He’s a fluid mover. We had to get comfortable with his medical, and we were. We brought him in on a pre-draft visit to allow our medical experts to really get a good evaluation of him. We talked to him about his injury history. We were at a place of comfort, and so from that perspective, we’re really excited about having him.” (Link)
NC State Cornerback Shyheim Battle has received an invitation from the New York Jets to participate in their Rookie Mini Camp.
NC State’s Shyheim Battle has been invited to rookie mini camp with the Jets with the opportunity to earn a priority free agent contract. #ncstate#NFLDraft#wpn
Battle had 1 year of eligibility remaining, but declared for the NFL Draft on January 3rd.
He finished this past year as the most experienced player on the Wolfpack’s defense, starting in 41 of the 51 games he has played in dating back to 2019. In a rarity in this day-and-age, Battle was a 4-year starter at the Cornerback position for NC State. He graduated with a degree in Communications.
In his final season in Red and White, Battle had 46 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 4 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery. His PFF Grade of 70.6 was the 7th best on the Wolfpack defense.
In his one season in Raleigh, Narveson made 18 of his 23 Field Goal attempts for the Wolfpack, and made all 38 Extra Point attempts. Narveson made some history in his one season at NC State, kicking a 57-yard Field Goal against Duke, breaking the school record for the longest Field Goal.
Narveson ranked 4th in the ACC in Field Goals attempted (23), and 5th in Field Goals made (18) this season. He ranked 9th in conference in scoring (7.1 points per game).