NC State football pro players under Doeren having lucractive careers

The NFL Draft begins Thursday night with the first round, and for the third time under head coach Dave Doeren, a NC State football player will be selected on the opening day. NC State All-American left tackle Ikem Ekwonu is almost certain to go in the top 10 and quite likely in the top five overall picks.

The first to be taken in the first round was defensive end Bradley Chubb with the fifth overall pick in 2017, and then a year later center Garrett Bradbury was taken with the 18th overall selection. For Bradbury, this is an important season for him with the Minnesota Vikings. The franchise reportedly will not pick up the fifth-year option that comes with a first-round draft pick, meaning 2022 will be a contract year for Bradbury.

Chubb already had his fifth-year option picked up, at a value of $12.72 million, but he faces an important season, too. He will be a free agent after this year. In years one and three for Denver, Chubb was very good. In years two and four, he was injury prone.

Overall, NC State football players drafted under Doeren have done well in the NFL.

• In 2014, Dontae Johnson was chosen in the fourth round by the San Francisco 49ers. He has played eight seasons in a league, mostly with the team that picked him. The average defensive back’s career is less than three years.

Johnson has made over $6 million in his career and could make nearly $1.3 million more if he makes the 49ers in 2022.

• All three Pack players picked in 2016 were still in the NFL last season — guard Joe Thuney, quarterback Jacoby Brissett and defensive back Juston Burris. Thuney is the most accomplished, having signed an $80 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. Brissett signed with the Browns this offseason, which will be his fourth team. If he makes the team, Brissett will have piled up nearly $43 million in career earnings.

Burris recently re-signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers, where he started much of the past two years. The deal was worth nearly $1.2 million, which would push him to over $12 million in career earnings.

• The 2017 draft was the one year of less-than-stellar results for NC State players under Doeren. Second-round pick Josh Jones busted with Green Bay. He seemed to revive his career in 2020 with Jacksonville Jaguars but since then has bounced around practice squads while receiving a few game action with the Seahawks and Colts.

Jones remains unsigned this offseason.

Defensive back Jack Tocho and running back Matthew Dayes were taken in the seventh rounds. Tocho never made an active roster but did make a few practice squads. He is now playing in the USFL.

Dayes played sparingly one season for the Cleveland Browns and then made a couple of practice squads before his career was done by 2020.

• The 2018 draft was a high watermark for Doeren’s players at NC State. Seven were taken, all within the top five rounds.

In addition to Chubb, fellow defensive linemen B.J. Hill (Giants), Justin Jones (Chargers) and Kentavius Street (49ers) were all picked. Hill and Jones went in the third round and both have made it to multi-year second contracts. After being traded last offseason to the Cincinnati Bengals, Hill impressed in their Super Bowl run and landed a 3-year, $30 million contract from his new team.

Jones signed a two-year deal worth $12 million with the Chicago Bears.

Street is also off to a new team, inking a one-year deal that could pay him over $1.25 million with the New Orleans Saints. He will be reunited with Ryan Nielsen, the former NC State defensive line coach who played an instrumental role in recruiting Street to Raleigh and has coached that position for the past six years with New Orleans. Nielsen is also the Saints’ co-defensive coordinator.

Running back Nyheim Hines, taken in the fourth round by the Indianapolis Colts, was locked up by his team with a three-year, $18.6 million extension in 2021. If he earns every penny of that deal, his career earnings will shoot to nearly $24 million.

Offensive tackle Will Richardson, taken in the fourth round by the Jacksonville Jaguars, has been primarily a reserve for his team, but a valuable one at that. The Jags resigned him on a one-year deal worth $2 million in March. Both Hines and Richardson were players who left NC State early for the NFL.

The lone draft pick not to make it to free agency/second contract was running back Jaylen Samuels. After earning carries as a reserve for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who drafted him in the fifth round, Samuels was cut last season. He spent time on their practice squad before being released in October and picked up on Houston’s practice squad.

In January, Samuels signed a reserve/future contract with the Arizona Cardinals that would pay him a little over $1 million if he makes the team.

• Four more NC State football players were picked in 2019. Bradbury has already been mentioned, but the most successful player thus far may be third round pick Germaine Pratt, a starting linebacker for the Bengals. He has started most of his three seasons for Cincinnati and set a personal-best in tackles last year, positioning himself well as he enters his contract year.

Quarterback Ryan Finley, taken in the fourth round by the Cincinnati Bengals, received three total starts in 2019 and 2020 before being traded to the Texans, who waived him.

Receiver Kelvin Harmon was picked in the seventh round by the Washington Commanders. After making 30 catches for 365 yards as a rookie, Harmon tore his ACL in the summer of 2020, costing him the season. He spent 2021 on Washington’s practice squad and inked a reserve/future contract in January. Harmon was another NC State player who left school early.

• NC State had two defensive linemen selected in 2020 — Larrell Murchison in the fifth round by the Tennessee Titans and James Smith-Williams in the seventh round by Washington. Both made their respective teams’ active rosters for each of the past two years.

• Defensive tackle Alim McNeill was picked in the third round last year by the Detroit Lions, and he had a solid rookie campaign with 35 tackles, including a pair of sacks, while starting six games. McNeill turned pro after his third season at NC State, and appears to have a promising future in the NFL.

• There have been some notable undrafted success stories, too. Punter A.J. Cole signed a four-year, $12 million contract last year after winning the Raiders’ punting job in 2019. Cole then followed up the big deal by being first-team All-Pro in 2021.

Receiver Jakobi Meyers has put himself in a position for a lucrative contract, too. He made 83 receptions for 866 yards and a pair of touchdowns last season with New England. As a restricted free agent, the Patriots put a second-round tag on him before signing Meyers to a nearly $4 million deal.

Meyers, who left NC State early, will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

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