NC State football positional power rankings: Offense

Now that the NC State football spring practices are a wrap, TheWolfpacker.com delivers its positional power rankings for each side of the football. We begin with the offense under new coordinator Robert Anae.

1. Quarterbacks — Even with the midweek announcement that fourth-year redshirt sophomore Ben Finley was leaving via grad transfer, this position still remains an enviable strength for NC State. The Pack has two strong options in super senior and Virginia transfer Brennan Armstrong and sophomore MJ Morris.

Morris may have had the better spring game and flashed last season his potential as the quarterback of the future for NC State football. Armstrong, meanwhile, shattered schools records while playing for Anae when the two were together at Virginia.

A 1-2 combination of Armstrong and Morris is about as good as it gets.

2. Running backs — This is a position with strength in numbers for NC State. The Pack may lack a star at the moment, but depth is very strong.

Super senior Jordan Houston returns as the starter and NC State’s leading rusher. Junior Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and sophomore Michael Allen though may offer more upside, especially Sumo-Karngbaye when he is healthy.

Valuable contributing reserves and fifth-year redshirt juniors Delbert Mimms III and DeMarcus Jones II also are back, and early enrollee Kendrick Raphael, a one-time Iowa verbal commitment, made a good first impression during the spring for NC State.

3. Offensive line — The key for this unit will the improvement of returning starting tackles and redshirt juniors Anthony Belton (left) and Timothy McKay (right). The latter was named honorable mention All-ACC a season ago and may be poised for a breakout. Belton may have the higher ceiling.

The interior of the line has options but face questions. Redshirt junior Dylan McMahon will likely start in the middle after being a starting guard the past two years, but the guards are questionable. Super seniors Derrick Eason and Dawson Jaramillo, the latter a transfer from Oregon, could provide age and experience to the guard spots, but neither have been a full-time starter for the season before.

4. Tight end — If healthy, NC State is likely to count on super senior Trent Pennix to be a matchup nightmare for the defense and a big-play contributor on the offense. Depth also appears promising with early enrollee Juice Vereen leaving a good impression to go with the returns of redshirt junior Christopher Toudle and redshirt sophomore twins Cedd Seabrough and Fred Seabrough.

A big question is how will Anae use the tight ends in the offense.

5. Wide receiver — At some point in fall camp, NC State is going to need some of the unproven wideouts to emerge, or have a player like fourth-year junior Porter Rooks break out and live up to the potential he has shown in the past.

Preferably, both would happen, but if there is room available for an addition to the roster via the transfer portal, receiver might be the top choice.

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