Anthony Belton prepared for opportunity to be next up at left tackle
One of the most visible position battles for NC State football this fall will be the left tackle position on the offensive line. Perhaps appropriately, the leading contender emerging at the outset of training camp is redshirt sophomore Anthony Belton, one of the most visibly impressive players on the roster.
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That may not have always been the case. When the 6-foot-6 Belton arrived at NC State after a stint at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Ga., he admitted that he was “a tad bit heavy.”
“I came in at 342 pounds, probably,” Belton said. “I lost a lot of fat, just trying to build up my composition, get toned up.”
The work has paid off. The player that NC State football strength and conditioning coach Dantonio “Thunder” Burnette nicknamed “Escalade” is now a leaner 335 pounds.
Why the nickname?
“I am big and smooth like an (Cadillac) Escalade,” Belton explained.
Having an opportunity to compete for the left tackle position is not something Belton has taken for granted. Belton figured with All-American Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu on the roster in 2021 that redshirting was in his future.
Thus, Belton did the best he could to ask Ekwonu as many questions as possible.
“He was smart,” Belton described Ekwonu. “He knew his game.”
Anthony Belton not taking competition for granted
Belton knows that while he may be the favorite to replace Ekwonu now, that does not necessarily mean he will start at left tackle for the season opener Sept. 3 at East Carolina.
“Every day is a battle,” Belton said. “I just can’t get complacent.”
Which is why Belton does not look ahead to playing the Pirates, even though that would mark his return to the field after a lengthy time off.
In 2020, COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the junior college season. Thus Belton, a Tallahassee, Fla., native, and his teammates at Georgia Military College (GMC) were left to only practice occasionally.
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When Belton arrived at NC State in the spring of 2021, the rust was evident against the faster speed of the game and the amped-up competition of the ACC level of football.
“We probably practiced like a month or two,” Belton said of his last year at GMC. “It took me a while to get back adjusted and get a feel for the game.”
Between that and the conditioning changes he needed to make, a redshirt year was useful for both a mental and physical aspect.
Now Belton potentially is poised to step into the spotlight of being the player to replace the No. 6 overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft and the first offensive lineman off the board.
“I am not trying to be the next Ickey,” Belton insisted. “I am trying to be the best version of myself.”
