I'm like you man. The older I get, the more important shit that comes into my life that makes football a good bit less meaningful. However, i do still try to keep up...so here are my thoughts:
Offense:
QB- Brissett is the man here. A past walk on and a true freshman backing him up so if he doesn't perform well or he gets injured, the season is down the tubes again. Not sure what to expect from him but it can't be worse than last year, so I expect improvement from that position.
RB - Three headed monster of Creecy, Thornton and Dayes. Creecy still gets PT somehow even though he is slow and tentative to the hole. Thornton hopefully has put his immaturity behind him and is ready to play football. I love Dayes...kid has some moves but he severely lacks any kind of breakaway speed.
WR - Very deep position. I've heard Jonathan Alston has made great strides. There will be LOTS of mixing of personnel here. Underwood, Valdes-Scantling, Alston, Cherry, Ramos, Hines, Louis...all will probably get a good amount of PT.
TE - Grinnage and Browne should be more than adequate here. Both very big bodies. Depth Chart has Browne as first team which is surprising since Grinnage showed lots of promise last season
OL - Having Rob Crisp back is HUGE as long as he stays healthy. Chandler on the other side gives us two tackles with tons of experience. Thuney finally gets to move back inside to guard which is where he is one of the ACC's best. Other guard spot is manned by true freshman Tony Adams who looks like a Redshirt Senior physically. Center spot is weakest IMO with Quentin Schooley back manning that spot.
K - Sade back for his senior year. Very solid kicker.
Defense:
DL - Lots of experience, lots of talent. Two freshmen on the two deep in Street and BJ Hill. Street is a grown ass man who has an NFL ready bull rush already. BJ Hill really impressed in the spring and this offseason and unseated Thomas Teal for the starting DT position opposite TY McGill. The DE positions will be manned by Mike Rose and Art Norman. Norman has really bulked up and is in the 250-260 range. Hopefully he hasn't lost the quickness that hes known for. Mike Rose has an NFL body but he needs to put some production behind it. I still remember him running down the Syracuse RB from 20 yards back last season.
LB - Well, the loss of MJ Salahuddin at MLB hurts a bit since we'll now be starting RS Freshman Jerod Fernandez at that spot with True Freshman Airius Moore backing him up. Fernandez is said to have opened some eyes, so hopefully he'll do well. The other LB spot since we're running a 4-2-5 will be manned by Rodman Noel and Brandon Pittman. Both have been "solid" in their time with NC State. Looking for them to make a jump
CB - Juston Burris and Jack Tocho. Both are physically impressive at 6'0 201 and 6'1 211. Burris will be a 3 year starter and Tocho racked up two interceptions against Syracuse in his first start last year before getting injured. Backups are very green so burris and tocho will have to carry the mail. Tim Buckley and the hard hitting Dravious Wright will play the nickel back which will be on the field alot.
S - Hakim Jones and Josh Jones will start. Josh Jones looks like a damn linebacker as well does his backup Germaine Pratt who came in the spring at 6'3 210 and is now a damn manimal at 6'3 230. Hakim was solid last season and I look for him to make a jump in production with a season under his belt.
P - Wil Baumann...solid though not spectacular.
Overview:
Lots of youth all over the place. You've got freshmen, RS FR or Sophomores in the two deep at just about every single position. I expect bowl eligibility as we're given 4 free wins in OOC. If this team can't get 2 ACC wins this season, Dave Doeren's ass will be getting warm. Trouble is, hes gonna be relying on alot of guys that just don't have a ton of playing time in major college football including his starting QB. We'll see how it goes.