Bring your tacklin’ fuel.
It’s a transition year for the linebacker spot, as NC State must replace to veteran starters, including the best player on the defense last year. Payton Wilson had perhaps (probably) the finest single season by a linebacker in school history, and while he’s impossible to replace, State will aim at least to approximate his playmaking in the aggregate.
Neither Wilson nor Jaylon Scott came off the field much last season, and nobody played more defensive snaps in 2023 than Scott, who appeared in 56 games during his career. A whole lot of quality experience walked out the door when these guys graduated.
NC State is expecting a lot from Sean Brown, who became a starter for the first time last season (at safety, of course) and will need to be a quick study for this defense to reach its potential. He’s got the physical skillset to be a disruptive factor, and I expect Tony Gibson will let him loose in the same ways he did Payton Wilson.
Caden Fordham has patiently waited his turn, and will step into a primary role for the first time as a redshirt junior. Fortunately he did get a lot of experience as a reserve last season, which will help him. With Wilson sitting out the Pop Tarts Bowl, Fordham saw a season-high 71 snaps; he didn’t play especially well, and State will need him to be more consistent, but I’m bullish on his upside.
Devon Betty is the elder statesman here, with 46 appearances in his career, and his ability to provide a calming presence and yeomanlike work early on may be crucial. But his skillset is more limited than others on the roster, including guys who haven’t been on the field, and he began losing playing time to Fordham down the stretch in 2023. It’s possible Betty could begin the season as the first linebacker off the bench, spelling Fordham in the middle.
But if he’s not starting alongside Fordham and Brown, then that means NC State will likely be leaning on some youth in the SAM spot. The job might go to Kelvon McBride, who has more upside, but has yet to play a college snap after redshirting as a true freshman.
Youth in the reserve roles is a theme: there’s McBride, Kamal Bonner (R-FR), and Elijah Groves (FR) in the mix for reps. NC State also added junior college linebacker Wyatt Wright in its ‘24 recruiting class—Wright was able to enroll early, thankfully, but no doubt still has catching up to do.
Groves was not able to enroll early, but he has big-time talent and should improve quickly as he builds experience.
I’d imagine NC State will try to get as many of the younger players on the field as it can against Western Carolina, and ideally there’d be another warm-up game before they had to toss the youths into the fire against Tennessee, but alas.
NC State is going to need some injury luck at linebacker this season—if Brown and Fordham are full-go for 12 games, then the Wolfpack should be fine. If not, well, there’s no time for learning like the present, I suppose.