NC State coach Dave Doeren names several starters from position battles ahead of opener vs. ECU

The theme of NC State’s fall camp was competition. It was expected that the Wolfpack had several spots wide open for anyone to win, but coach Dave Doeren remained coy for much of the month as the position battles went on. 

“I’m excited about the depth and the competition,” Doeren said on Aug. 13. “I’m not going to give you any intel. Obviously that doesn’t help our team to help you with that information. But we have really good competition right now, on both sides of the football: from specialists all the way through the position groups.”

Now, however, Doeren was comfortable opening up about several key spots on all three phases of NC State’s roster going into Thursday’s season opener against East Carolina (7 p.m., ACC Network) on his weekly radio show. 

One of the main areas of competition in camp was along the offensive line, which featured three openings going into the month on the right side of the group. By the end of it, Utah State transfer Teague Andersen won the right tackle job, redshirt sophomore Kamen Smith earned the right guard position and Purdue transfer Jalen Grant will be the team’s top center. 

“There’s been good competition,” Doeren said Wednesday night. “Jalen Grant and Spike Sowells, those are our two centers. We have other guys that can snap and play, if we get to that. Right guard has been a lot of competition in training camp, and Kamen Smith has won that job. Val Erickson, after the first half, will be available and can play there. Yousef [Mugharbil] has done a really good job, I’m proud of him for his growth, and Spike can also play guard. We feel like we have some depth inside.”

Grant has played 2,754 total career snaps on the offensive line at the collegiate level, but hasn’t been a team’s go-to center since he served in that role at Bowling Green during the 2021 campaign. Although he has spent much of the last three seasons at guard, Doeren wanted to stress his trust in Grant, who edged Sowells, a true freshman All-American, in camp.

“I think Jalen Grant doesn’t get a lot of focus as our center,” Doeren said. “Man, is he a consistent football player? He’s a two-time state champion wrestler, a tough kid. I like his make-up and what he’s about.”

Smith, meanwhile, made his first-career start in last year’s Military Bowl and has developed even more since. Andersen, the expected right tackle, made 18 starts at the position over the past two years at Utah State.

In addition to the interior depth, Doeren said that redshirt sophomore Rico Jackson will be the top tackle reserve as he’s capable of playing on either side, if needed.

While the offensive line is deeper than recent past, NC State also had a standout competition at nickel going into the season. Redshirt junior Jackson Vick was the incumbent after rising up the depth chart at the end of last season, but he was pushed by Missouri transfer Jaren Sensabaugh in camp. Vick earned the starting nod, but Sensabaugh is still expected to see game action. 

In addition to the more high-profile battles, NC State’s special teams featured several players looking to make an impact in new roles. 

Redshirt freshman running back Duke Scott will serve as the Wolfpack’s kickoff returner, a role that Doeren said he thinks “he’s going to be fantastic back there.” At punt return, NC State will feature both senior wide receiver Wesley Grimes and freshman wideout Teddy Hoffmann. 

Grimes has experience as a punt returner, and will likely be the first one back there, but the Wolfpack wants to give Hoffmann game reps to eventually earn more returns in the near future. 

In addition to new returners, NC State will use a pair of new kickers in 2025. True freshman Charlie Birtwistle earned the kickoff specialist job due to his ball location, distance and hang time in camp. 

The biggest surprise however came at placekicker. Redshirt freshman Nick Konieczynski won the battle against returning starter Kanoah Vinesett, who was 18-of-24 on his field goal attempts with a long of 52 last fall, in addition to his 34-for-34 showing on extra-point attempts. 

“It was a nice competition throughout camp,” Doeren said. “Kanoah was in the lead going into it and Nick beat him out throughout camp. He really impressed everybody with his consistency, his distance, ball height and ball flight. He has a really good accuracy and leg strength about him that puts us in a position to feel good about kicking longer field goals, if we need to.”

Konieczynski has yet to make an appearance in a college game, and he’s in line to debut against East Carolina. The former Matthews (N.C.) Butler High standout was 4-for-10 on field goal attempts with a long of 30 yards, while he was 122-for-131 on extra points across his junior and senior campaigns. 

Now that NC State’s position battles have come to a close, the Wolfpack is focused on ECU, which handed the team a 26-21 loss in the Military Bowl last December.