<a href="https://gopack.com/">NC State</a> weathered a wave of transfer portal entries over the past two weeks. Now, it has good news. Sophomore quarterback <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/cj-bailey-151582/">CJ Bailey</a> will return for his junior season, he announced on social media.



Bailey heads into the 2026 season as one of the more-highly touted signal-callers in college football. He’s coming off his best season yet after he posted 3,105 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions to help pace the Pack to an eight-win campaign. 



The 6-foot-6, 210-pound quarterback threw for at least 200 yards in 10 of his 13 starts this fall, including a trio of 300-plus yard performances. Bailey excelled down the stretch of the year, accounting for seven total touchdowns without a turnover as the Wolfpack won each of its final three games.



Bailey, who was thrown into the fire as the Pack’s starter as a freshman due to concussions to <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/grayson-mccall-46678/">Grayson McCall</a> in 2024, threw for 2,413 yards with 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a freshman. 



The Miami, Fla., native has now accounted for 35 total touchdowns with no turnovers in the red zone in his collegiate career. Bailey also completed 68.8 percent of his passes this past season, which was the second-best single-campaign mark in program history, only trailing <a href="https://www.on3.com/rivals/philip-rivers-96463/">Philip Rivers’</a> 72.1 percent in 2003.



He was likely to be one of the more-coveted signal-callers in the portal with his tall frame and excellent decision-making skills, but instead he opted to return to the Wolfpack in a major win for the program.

CJ Bailey

The Wolfpacker Football

The Wolfpacker

NC State QB CJ Bailey announces return for junior season

team image

Atlantic Coast Conference

NC State

Organization Logo

The Wolves’ Den

News

Lobby

The State of Basketball

Forums

News Feed

Roster

Schedule

Transfer Portal Ranking

Transfer Portal

NC State Draft History

[site-team] Draft History

Football

Search

Commitments

Transfers

Team Rankings

Player Rankings

Industry Comparison

Offers

Visits

Recruiting Prediction Machine

FB Recruiting

Basketball

BB Recruiting

About

Staff

The Wolfpacker On3+ Subscription

[site-name] On3+ Subscription

Contact

Podcasts and Shows

Team Store

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

Message Boards

Transfer Portal {{ hot }}

Transfer Portal Player Rankings

MegaBoard

Rivals300

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

Nebraska

North Carolina

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

The Main Board

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Wrestling

Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Annual $1

Annual Premium

Annual $1 

Monthly

Annual

Unlimited Access to This and All Articles.

Article (On3 Plus Rivals)

Forum (On3 Plus Rivals)

Intro

Join

College scoop, experts, and community - all in one.

Winback

What Pack still wants from portal

Wish list

What portal looked like so far

First 10 days

Texas OL Cruz commits to Pack

Another one

How Cruz helps the Pack OL

Impact analysis

MBB logs 44-point win at FSU

Road win

Headed to the ACC

Damon Wilson

Next court date set

Sherrone Moore

Stories that will shape 2026

Looking ahead

Miami trending for QB, WR

Transfer Portal Intel

Top CFB players for 2026

Way Too Early Top 100