What All Dave Doeren Had To Say On The Quarterback Situation

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media and talked a lot about the quarterback position with starter Devin Leary sidelined possibly for the rest of the regular season.

Here is a look at some of his comments on the quarterback position!

An Update on Devin Leary’s status...
Obviously the injury to Devin is tough for him and us. I hate that for a young man that has worked so hard and is playing so well.

The positive news is he will have a normal, healthy recovery. It’s nothing that will haunt him from an injury standpoint, but it will probably keep him out of the regular season, but we’ll see how fast he can heal.

More on the backups..
I know Bailey, Ben, and Ty are excited about their opportunity and they will work hard with coach Beck to be ready to help us win games.

That’s what it’s all about, maximizing your opportunity and the guys around you helping to the best of their ability.

Doeren on how Bailey Hockman has improved from the first couple of starts...
I think he knows our offense and is in a different position as a teammate... he's more comfortable here, he has a good circle of people, and he can be himself.

I think he understands what his role was. He was a very positive teammate. He was very energetic around his friends, his teammates.

Now it’s taking advantage of an opportunity. I don’t think he’ll tell you he played well Saturday, he did some good things and some things he can do better.  Now pouring all that energy into it.

We have to get Ben and Ty ready, too, because they are a play away from being in the game.  We have to get those guys some reps with our offense and make sure all three are ready to play.

Ben Finley is listed as the No. 2 guy. What do you like about him and how was he able to pass Ty Evans?
Well, they were pretty much in the same category.

Ty had an injury that kept him out a long time which allowed Ben to get more reps... gain more knowledge and timing with the offense. Ttat’s three that went. Ben has more reps right now.

The thing you like about Ben is he’s very smart, he has great spatial awareness, he sees things really well, he gets the ball out quick, and he can run.

That’s the one thing that separates him from any of those guys. He can really run. He's a good athlete. 

We were hoping we wouldn't end up in that scenario where he’d have to play because you want to get that year in the weight room, I'd guess you'd say for a freshman quarterback, but he and Ty have to be ready to go out there and help us. I know they will put their time in.

Bailey Hockman knew Devin was there... now that’s not the point.  Can that help him down the road?
He just has to play confident football, run the system, not worry about things that could happen if he doesn't play the way he should play. He just has to go play football and let it all go.

For him, it’s a one play at a time like he did against Wake Forest. We need him to get back to that. I know he’ll prepare the right way.

It’s his time. It’s a matter of him taking advantage of the opportunity. I tell the players all the time that you’ll have an opportunity at some point and it’s on you to be ready. It's his opportunity to go show himself and everyone out there what kind of player he can be.

He doesn’t have to be Superman. He just has to go out there and run the offense. That’s it.

What did you see from him in practice yesterday?
He's not going to all of a sudden change who he is. He’s excited, but he has to put the work in... this point of the week is pretty cerebral at that position. We don’t practice until tomorrow. Yesterday was a lot of film, a lot of talk. 

They went out and walked through some things, but tomorrow is when we’ll really start to crank up the gameplan with them.

Hockman likes to get outside the pocket and run sometimes. Do you worry about him running now since he’s the guy?
No, I think he needs to play the offense. I think he needs to stay in the pocket when he has good protection.  He took a sack the other night and had no business running out of the pocket. He had great protection. He could have stood there for ten minutes, and he runs out and gets himself sacked.

He needs to trust the protection when it’s there and give his receivers time to get open. When things break down he needs to use his feet because he can run, but I think running to run and running when you need to run are two different things.  

Understanding you have time in certain rushes, knowing your protection rules, and trusting the guys are going to take care of you.