McKay Earned The Starting Job With His Overall Play
Following the departure of Ryan Finley, redshirt sophomore quarterback Matthew McKay has won the starting job behind center as the Wolfpack prepares to take on East Carolina.
McKay was named the starter when the official depth chart became public Monday morning. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Bailey Hockman is listed as the No. 2 signal caller with redshirt freshman quarterback Devin Leary behind Hockman at No. 3.
“Matt’s accuracy, his leadership, his ability to protect the team with his decision-making, and his consistent play is really what prevailed,” head coach Dave Doeren said.
With the speculation of Finley’s successor up in the air since the now-Cincinnati Bengal played his final collegiate game against Texas A&M in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, this announcement was somewhat expected given the Raleigh native’s experience in the program. McKay played for a total of 39 snaps last season, completing seven of his eight pass attempts for 87 yards while rushing for 36 yards on 13 attempts. Doeren noticed his progression from those snaps and all the way through to the latest practices.
“You can look at the quarterbacks in three ways: your offensive system, their situational IQ, and their ability to recognize defensive structure,” Doeren expounded. “Throughout the spring, this is an area where Matt just had the lead. I’m excited for Matt and what he’s done.”
Even with McKay getting the call for game one, Doeren also made note of those behind him in the depth chart and what they bring to the table.
“I’m really impressed with Bailey and Devin’s improvement,” Doeren said. “I think both Devin and Bailey have really good arm talent. All those guys are preparing to be ready to play. When you’re not the starter for the first game, you look at it as, ‘I’m not the starter yet.’ I’m excited to continue to work with these guys.”
Despite all the talent at his disposal, Doeren appears to be committed to McKay for the forseeable future. However, that doesn’t mean that the others in the rotation won’t have their opportunity.
“I don’t have a plan to go in and say, ‘This series, this guy’s going in,’” Doeren said. “We’ve just got to see how it goes. I’m not going to have a quick hook. There are going to be mistakes from whomever it is. You’ve got to let them get into the flow of the game and learn from what’s going on. You let the coaches make the adjustments necessary. We’ll just see where it goes, and the other guy’s got to be ready.”
McKay saw action in five games as the backup in 2018, completing 7-of-8 passing attempts while rushing for a score in the Georgia State win. He played 14 snaps at Louisville, completing 5-of-6 passes for 38 yards.