Doeren: "These Guys Understand Where We're At"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media following today's practice and touched on a variety of topics.

How do you feel about the team at this point?

We've got better.

Friday was a good scrimmage for both sides of the ball.  You got to see finishing plays, good contact plays, you got to see some guys make contested catches. There was progress for a lot of guys.

Our young players are starting to play faster, thinking less.

It's been hard in the kicking game trying to replace our returners, getting out there and catching the ball, working on our kickoff return outside today.  It was good to get out there and deal with the elements a little bit.

Who are some of the candidates for returners?

Thayer Thomas, Jakobi Meyers, Steph Louis, Maurice Trowell. Those are the four guys who have looked the best so far.

Anyone standout at punt returner?

Probably Thayer and Jakobi as punt returners right now.  Kickoff returner, today was the first day we've had full returns so we'll have to see how that film looks.

Steph Louis is a good we're excited about and Erin Collins has done some good things in practices but we've got a lot of work to do still.

What kind of work ethic does Thayer Thomas have out of Heritage?

Really good.  I don't know, he seems like the kind of kid who has had it since he was young.

Everyday he's the same person. He works really hard.

He has good skillset too. He catches the ball well, he understands the game, he has a high football IQ.  He's sneaky too. He runs by a lot of people.

What does it take for someone like Thayer to catch your eye?

It's how to handle it early on.

We treat all of those guys the same... exactly like everybody else on the roster, those same opportunities.

It's really about being opportunistic when you get a chance to get in the rotation, which he has this spring.  He's been in there with the twos and sometimes the ones.  

For him he's taken advantage of an opportunity this spring and done a nice job.

You have most of those wide receivers back. Where would you put this wide receiver group at this point?

Very talented.  They have incredible experience at the position. They are big. We have two guys in Kelvin and Steph who are over 215 pounds.  They are hard to cover. They use their bodies well. They go up and get the ball in traffic. They track it well, and Ryan does a good job with them in terms of timing.

Jakobi Meyers has built himself from a 160-pound kid to almost 200 pounds, and he's really elusive.

It's one of the better receiving corps I've been around.

You're seeming to will this group into believing this is the standard and don't take a step back... keep it going.

That's the legacy we have. We said it at the end of last season.  These guys understand where we are at. We are a Top 25 team and we want to stay there and improve our status. The only way to do that is by handling your business.

Just because players left doesn't mean there aren't players ready to take their place. Those guys know, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, they have opportunities they have been waiting for.  It's fun to see those guys seize that moment.

Offensively to have all the experience back and for those guys to continue to build on what they did last year and put the ball in the endzone.