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Supermassive NC State Football Preview: Secondary

NC State's defensive backfield peaked during the early 2020s, when it posted four consecutive seasons allowing under 7 YPA and a top 10 passing defense in 2021. Last season, it returned some compelling pieces but ended up backsliding in the 60s nationally and allowing over 6 YPA for the first time since 2019. State also said goodbye to its nickels coach and its safeties coach, two of the three DB coaches that helped build one of the better secondary runs in program history.


In so many ways, this definitely being one, 2025 is a refresh for NC State. The defensive side of the ball is changing dramatically, and the last of the names that were instrumental in the Tony Gibson era have exited, this mainly being Aydan White. The Pack returns one starter in the secondary, but via an active portal push and the need to call on some of its youth last year, it has reps to pull from.


Terms to know:

Cover 1: A man coverage with one safety in the middle of the field

Lurk/Rat: Variations of cover 1 that place a zone defender in the low middle to assist in covering crossing routes and to spy the quarterback

Cover 3: A zone coverage with three zones at the top of the defense, often with two corners and a safety responsible for each

Quarters: A coverage with two high safeties playing zone and corners playing a variety of possible responsibilities


One of the changes with this new defense that you might see is the Pack breaking from being such a high volume cover 1/cover 3 team. That’s who State was under Gibson. It was a lot of middle-of-the-field closed looks, out of which State would play variations of cover 3 and a lot of cover 1. I’m betting on Eliot introducing more quarters looks and more pre-snap two-high shells.


Quarters is a family of coverages that operates out of a two-high shell, and there are tons of variations of it. It's something State played more under Huxtable. For example, quarters MEG is a popular variation that plays man coverage with the corners and a two-high zone with everyone. Quarters MOD is a similar variation designed to prevent crossing routes from beating man corners by only playing man if the receiver is “out or deep.” It’s a complex family of coverages with checks and variations for specific formations. I think you’ll see State align in more split-field coverages this year in the interest of more pre-snap picture variability. You’ll see some quarters looks and a good bit of rotating into cover 3 or cover 1 post-snap or right before the snap. All of this is also based on what we know about Eliot from the past, so it could all be completely different come week one.


Being able to play a lot of cover 1 is a luxury. It requires good corner play, which State has generally had during the Tony Gibson era with guys like Shyheim Battle, Aydan White, and Derrek Pitts. I’ll be surprised if State has that quality of corner this year, which is why I’m betting on a lower volume. Certainly it will still be used. Every team in America plays it, and it's the best coverage in football. Versions such as lurk or rat that can zone the low hole have few structural vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities come from bad matchups with little safety help and bunch and stack alignments that can help create those matchups.


State’s corner reps should come from the group of Devon Marshall, Jackson Vick, Jamel Johnson, and Brian Nelson. Marshall will start, and he was actually State’s best corner last year. He should be a heavy usage player this year as an aggressive corner who breaks on the ball well. He made several good plays against Syracuse on underneath routes. State played a ton of spot drop cover 3, and the corner was usually the flat defender in those structures. Syracuse hit State with endless quick game and he made some plays jumping slants and stick routes. I like him in quarters coverages like palms and MOD, especially from a cloud depth where he can have some cushion and break hard on underneath routes. We really don’t know much about the other three yet. I’ve got no real Jamel Johnson or Brian Nelson tape, and Vick started to break into the rotation toward the end of last season. 

 Jamel Johnson in press man against an OU receiver Brenen Thompson, a track superstar who ran a 10.32 100 meter. He's in phase the whole route and is able to make a play on the underthrown ball.


Hopefully, this group of corners can tackle better too. Corners are generally the worst tacklers on the team, which is why you’ll see some teams crack block a box player with the WR and leave the corner unblocked. On well-blocked plays, these guys can be the last line of defense between the ball and the endzone. Wake Forest had a lot of success with this specifically targeting Aydan White. State’s corners and really most of its DBs were pathetic last year as run defenders. 


At safety, JJ Johnson from Georgia State should start right away. This was a nice late snag in the portal as State scrambled to recover from its entire secondary leaving. He was all-conference at Georgia State and is a really good tackler in space. He shouldn't be the run support disaster that State's DBs were in the first half of last season.

Johnson with a nice open field tackle from depth to save a touchdown


Rente Hinton would be the front runner for the other safety spot. State does not possess a lot of depth here. I have heard some good things about Zack Myers, but that’s about it. Hinton came to State as a corner and wasn’t very good. The move to Safety made a lot of sense for him as a bigger DB at 6’3, 210. He did not play a lot last year but did get on the field some. I like him on the strong side as a guy who can play in the the box with State in single-high looks.


Isaiah Crowell got some burn last year as a nickel and wasn't bad. Ronnie Royal is a guy to watch as well who could play nickel or possibly be an undersized safety as well. He is probably the most anticipated young defensive player on the team, and he leads us to a critical point about the secondary as a whole. This unit has talent. State has done a fine job pulling quality high school talent over the last few years including some pretty highly-rated players with long offer sheets. It would be very helpful if some of this talent started to transition from prospect to product. Royal is certainly at the top of that list, but guys like Zack Myers, Daemon Fagan, Jivan Baly, and Asaad Brown are also in the well.


State comes into this season with only really two spots in the secondary spoken for. Devon Marshall will start, and I would think JJ Johnson would as well. Everything else feels open, and the tight lips around the program this spring have made it harder to get a feel for how those spots may be developing. There's a high ceiling here, but that has more to do with the youth than the portal haul. Just like the defensive front, this is a place riddled with question marks resulting from the turnover, the new scheme, and the lack of a spring game. Can the new faces make an impact?


Parting Thoughts


This wraps up this year's supermassive previews. I hope you've enjoyed them. Join the site the for email alerts whenever new content gets published and consider joining premium for $3 a month for even content like this.



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