Pratt Looking To Lead The Wolfpack's Defense

There is a transition going on within the NC State defense. Germaine Pratt sees the shift but he expects also more growth from the program in 2018. 

The Wolfpack lost several starters from its defense after the 2017 squad and while Pratt, as a linebacker sub for outgoing seniors Airius Moore and Jerod Fernandez, technically is not one of the few starters that return he is certainly one of the players NC State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Dave Huxtable will lean on heavily. 

Inside Pack Sports

Germaine Pratt is ready to have a breakout senior season for NC State.

The transformation in 2018 will have Pratt will surrounded by some younger players. During spring drills they have caught his eye. The bad news is no one player stands out. The good news is the group is so talented that it makes it difficult for players to separate themselves in that way. 

“I have been impressed with all of them,” Pratt said of the younger players on the NC State defense that are trying to scratch out playing time in the upcoming season. “They are in there learning and taking everyday as an opportunity to get better. I think those boys are learning. I think all of them are doing well right now.” 

There is also an element of déjà vu as the plight many of the younger players face is one Pratt himself dealt with in his first four seasons at NC State, which included a redshirt campaign in 2016. 

Like Pratt did before them, and in accordance with the day-to-day philosophy that NC State head coach Dave Doeren preaches, they are staying true to the grind. It is leading to great expectations. 

“Basically if they gain confidence through these 15 practices and take it a day at a time they will improve and we will be a stronger unit,” Pratt said. “I think we will be better than we were last year if we just focus on the small things and take the coaching from Coach Hux, learn the defense and take whatever the opposition gives us.

“It is fun building a relationship with the young guys, trying to get them on board, help them and just teaching them the things that I know when they are picking my brain.’ 

As he moves into the veteran role in 2018, Pratt utilizes self-improvement techniques off the field that made him a class of 2014 target for NC State out of Central High School in High Point, North Carolina. 

Even older players can still learn. 

“When I was in high school we always watched film so we would look for tendencies. My defensive coach played in college so he told me the basics of what you needed to do and then I learned from that. Coach Hux is a brilliant guy so he is teaching me some small nuggets that I can use so just learning from him has improved my knowledge.” 

It is that mindset that Pratt believes will lead NC State to success in the upcoming season, and stun some pundits with the quality of the team’s defense in the process. It is a method that has worked for him since he came to Raleigh in 2014. 

“Talent is not everything if you do not work for it,” Pratt said. “You have got to do your job. If people put in the extra work, it will show. Most people didn’t know about me but I put in the extra work  and it showed a little bit. I think some of us will step up. We have got big shoes to fill, without a question.

NC State is expected to have some slippage record-wise and even more on the defensive side of the ball in 2018. The Wolfpack cannot run from the perceptions. 

What the team can do is continue the approach of winning the individual day that was preached heavily last season. The program lost a lot of talent after its Sun Bowl win in December but the show must go on. 

The next step is to make sure that NC State is building off of its recent success and not leaning on it. If the Wolfpack continues along those lines, Pratt believes the program can continue to move forward. 

“We can do whatever we want to do,” Pratt said of the 2018 team. “The sky is the limit. We can’t just bank on what the outside is thinking about us, we have got to focus on the inside. 

“If we are a brotherhood, we come together and stay strong like it was last year then we will be better than last year. If we keep that mindset and everybody does their job and just stays focused in getting the extra work that we need to do to be successful. I think we will be great.”

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