Patrick Excited To See Progress Along The Defensive Line
NC State defensive line coach Kevin Patrick inherited a gold mine when he arrived in 2017 with the Wolfpack returning four rising seniors projected to be NFL draft picks. With the help of Patrick all four were drafted, but now that leaves him looking to replace plenty of talent.
At defensive end it appears senior Darian Roseboro and redshirt junior James Smith-Williams are locked in as starters. Both were top reserves last season and are now ready to be full-time players.
What has impressed Patrick has been the leadership the duo has exhibited.
"Everybody has their own leadership ways, and how they go about it," Patrick said. "Sometimes those things go unseen to the naked eye, but those guys... Roseboro is definitely more vocal at times. James is behind the scenes whispering in the ears to gain attention from others.
"They've done a really good job of working with these guys. It's really not only on themselves but helping everybody around them to get better."
True freshman Joseph Boletepeli is competing for playing time behind Roseboro and Smith-Williams, and he has worked his way into the mix after arriving in January and going through spring practice.
"Anytime you get guy and have him for spring ball, that speeds up the maturation process so much more," Patrick said. "It enables the game to slow down to him a little bit. He's still a young guy, and he's treading along, but he has a very high ceiling. He's trying to reach that ceiling as fast as possible."
The big question up front is at defensive tackle.
Senior Eurndraus Bryant will play a major role, but sophomore Shug Frazier has battled injuries all spring and fall. However, redshirt junior Larrell Murchison has moved his way up the depth chart.
"We've started to develop some true one's," Patrick said. "Larrell Murchison has really come on. He's a lot different player than he was last year. He's really taken to coaching and has a lot more pride in himself with some of the things he's doing.
"That really helps out, and we've been able to build some unity between him and 'E' there in the inside. We've taken some steps the last four or five days and that has been encouraging."
Murchison was a highly-regarded signee in the 2017 class out of Louisburg CC, but the depth up front enabled him to redshirt, which he has benefited from. Murchison arrived around 270 pounds and is now nearly 300 pounds and that will help him be even more effective inside.
The redshirt year aided him mentally as well.
"The mental challenge is probably as big a challenge for those junior college [players], just like it is for those high school guys," Patrick said. "It's a whole different structure, a whole different demand, so that time that [Murchison] got to really watch the older guys that were here... how they worked, how they did things, how we did things, really helped him out tremendously."
One player going through a similar transition is redshirt sophomore Val Martin, who spent last year at Iowa Western CC.
"Val has some things to overcome," Patrick said. "He has to get his eyes right, and he's battling along. Those other guys right now are playing better, and Gibby [Grant Gibson] has a little more experience.
"Val is going into his sophomore year, and he has one year of junior college football under his belt so we have three years left with him. It's different when you have a two-year guy who has maybe played a little more football. He's coming along... you're drinking from a fire hose sometimes out there. Once he grasps it and gets his body under control he's going to be pretty good when he can play faster."
It sounds like the light has come on for redshirt freshman Ibrahim Kante. He arrived a defensive end, but has since slid inside where he's received rave reviews from the Wolfpack coaches.
"[Kante is] another guy... 250 pounds, we moved him inside," Patrick said. "That's where we feel like he's a really good fit for us. When he puts on some more weight to play down there he's going to be a special player.
"He comes out very flat. He's not scared of contact. He comes out and tries to strike with his eyes tied to his hands. If you get that down, you can build everything else on top of that."
Highly-regarded true freshman Alim McNeill has also put himself into the mix at defensive tackle. McNeill is pound-for-pound one of the best athletes on the team, but he is making a transition from high school linebacker to college defensive tackle... and trying to do so in a matter of weeks.
That is a transition which is far from easy.
"We've been force-feeding Alim," Patrick said. "He's inside. For a guy who has always played linebacker and running back it's taking some time, but even today you saw him really adjust.
It's a different world inside. Compared to end or linebacker... inside you have two points of contact at all times on you. You have to learn to play with a base, play low, and you have to be a beast down there. We knew it would take some time for him to adjust, but the game is starting to slow down for him, and he's able to hit it a little faster. Today was a much better day for Alim."
Overall there appears to be legitimate competition at defensive tackle, which is something that Patrick wants to see even more of.
"Shug has a sprained ankle, but with him in there and with 'E,' Larrell... we have had the ability to build the competition," he stated. "Gibby is coming a long more and more, and he's pushing along in the second spot.
"It helps. We need to get those two's to push even more and try to take those jobs in front of them, so we're trying to take that next step right now."