NC State football open practice notes

I was able to watch practice today, which was open to students. Here is what I noticed:

• I did not see Mike Stevens but I didn’t see much of the secondary so I may have missed him. The first team secondary appeared to be Nick McCloud, Johnathan Alston, Isaiah Stallings, Dexter Wright, and Shawn Boone.
• I’m not sure what the drill is called but they did something with the skill players and no lineman. Basically a flag football game in your backyard. The secondary impressed me a lot here especially considering they are widely considered the weakness of the team. They forced Ryan Finley and Jalan McClendon to hold on to the ball for 5+ seconds with the first teamers like Kelvin Harmon, Steph Louis and Nyheim Hines running routes.
• Airius Moore worked with the second team when I saw him but Doeren mentioned this would happen. Jerod Fernandez, Germaine Pratt, Riley Nicholson and Moore all rotated a lot during team drills.
• I didn’t see much of either lines but Bradley Chubb, Kentavius Street and BJ Hill left practice just over halfway through but they were obviously not hurt. Looked like they were headed for treatment but I was surprised Justin Jones didn’t go with them.
• Terrone Prescod practiced in a green jersey. Emmanuel McGirt appeared to be working with the second string but I couldn’t tell who anybody else was with the twos.
• Finley and McClendon rotate a lot but McClendon still runs with the ball a lot. They also ran the read option a lot more with McClendon. I didn’t see Finley run it at all. Finley didn’t seem to have a great day but it doesn’t look like it’s a competition either, as expected.
• CJ Riley is easily the tallest non-lineman but also had a drop on what would have been a big gain. Jakobi Meyers is slippery. Kelvin Harmon and Steph Louis look like twins, but Louis is noticeably stronger. I don’t think we have any concerns here. Emeka Emezie looked like maybe he could figure in this year but I’m not sure how much they’ll need him.
• Reggie Gallaspy and Dakwa Nichols didn’t practice so the RB depth chart is a mystery. Gallaspy showed up towards the end but was not in pads.
• Will Eason and Erin Collins got some run with the second and third team and impressed. Collins in particular had two long runs, one of which resulted in a touchdown. Eason is a scat back who is listed at 5-7, and that seems generous. I’m not sure how they’ll factor in this year but they were the second and third teamers I noticed most. Coach Doeren mentioned Collins as a true freshman who might play this year and I can see why.
• Jaysam worked with the running backs and not the tight ends which I thought was notable. Based on who was out there today he is probably second in line at RB, but Gallaspy and potentially Nichols would change that.
• Pretty much all of the guys who were working on the side or not at all were young. Bryce Banks, Dante Johnson and some others didn’t practice. Johnson had what looked like a cane. Larrell Murchison and Kendall Brown worked on the side before heading over to join the team but I’m not sure if they got in or not. These were the ones I was able to name but there were a few others.
• I saw representatives from six NFL teams: Chargers, Buccaneers, Jaguars, Jets, Dolphins and Texans.