Tyler Baker-Williams latest to return to NC State football

The latest NC State football junior to take advantage of his Super Senior option is nickel Tyler Baker-Williams.

Baker-Williams was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2021 after tallying 32 tackles, including three for loss. He also added two interceptions and four pass breakups in 10 games, missing two contests with injuries.

Six other NC State football players have announced they would use their Super Senior year due to the NCAA freezing eligibility in 2020.

— First-team All-ACC nose tackle Cory Durden

— First-team All-ACC safety Tanner Ingle

— Third-team All-ACC center Grant Gibson

— Honorable mention All-ACC linebacker Isaiah Moore

— Cornerback Derrek Pitts Jr. and safety Cyrus Fagan have confirmed they would come back.

Durden, a redshirt junior, took over and flourished as the starting nose tackle when redshirt freshman C.J. Clark went down with an injury three games into the season. Durden finished the year with 31 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks, and added seven quarterback hurries.

Ingle, who has started 36 games over the past four years, made the first-team all-conference squad after tallying 82 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, plus he had an interception and four pass breakups in 2021.

Moore was honorable mention All-ACC despite missing the final five contests of the year. Before suffering a knee injury, he had 43 tackles, including five for loss and a sack. He added three pass breakups, an interception and seven quarterback hurries.

Fagan was injured in week two of the season. He had nine tackles and a pick at the time of the injury.

Pitts, a transfer addition last offseason from Marshall, will also be back. The redshirt junior had 43 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, in 12 games. He also had two interceptions, six pass breakups (tied for the team-high) and a quarterback hurry.

Gibson had 40 pancake blocks at center this fall, his third season as a starter at the position.

Both Moore and Gibson were team captains and considered invaluable leaders on the roster.

The lone player who has said they would not use the Super Senior option is is junior running back Ricky Person Jr. Person walked on Senior Day after announcing he was entering the NFL Draft. He rushed 135 times for 636 yards and five touchdowns and added 28 receptions for 240 yards and two more scores.

Also previously announcing his return was redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary.

Leary finished the regular season completing 283 of 431 passes, 65.7 percent, for 3,433 yards and 35 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He had a quarterback efficiency rating of 157.0. He broke Philip Rivers’ school record for touchdown passes in a season, and still has the Dec. 28 San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl against UCLA left.

Leary also already has the sixth most passing yards and completions in a single season at NC State, and with a good bowl performance could shoot up to fourth in both, particularly in yardage where he needs just 120 to tie Wilson’s 2010 campaign.

The 65.7-percent completion percentage is the third highest in a season at NC State with a minimum of 100 pass attempts, and the efficiency only trails Rivers’ staggering 2003 rating of 170.49.

Leary was named one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and was selected honorable mention in the quarterback-heavy ACC.

His strong season fueled speculation that perhaps he would consider the NFL Draft.

In his interview with David Thompson of the Fayetteville Obsever, Leary also said that his roommate, redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson, would be back.

Wilson was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2020, when he led the conference in tackles despite missing two games. He was a contender to be the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, but a shoulder injury in a week two loss at Mississippi State cost him the rest of the year.

NC State football finished the regular season with a 9-3 overall record and 6-2 mark in the ACC, and ranked No. 18 in all of the respective polls. It will play UCLA in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl Dec. 28. The game is televised on Fox and kicks off at 8 p.m.

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