Phil Steele’s latest preseason magazine gives NC State plenty of reason to feel good about where things stand entering 2026. The veteran college football analyst has the Wolfpack tied for fifth in the ACC and put eight NC State players on his preseason All-ACC teams.
That’s a strong showing in a league that Steele pegs with Miami alone at the top and a three-way tie for second behind the Hurricanes. NC State sits in a four-team tie for fifth with Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech, ahead of Georgia Tech, FSU, Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, Cal, Syracuse, Stanford and Boston College.
The headliner on the Wolfpack side is quarterback CJ Bailey, who lands on Steele’s Third Team after putting together one of the best passing seasons in program history. In 2025, Bailey completed 68.8% of his throws for 3,105 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while posting a 150.7 passer efficiency rating. That number ranks third in NC State single-season history, and his 147.8 career mark is the best the program has ever seen.
Bailey’s production has already pushed him into some notable company after only two seasons. He ranks eighth in career passing yards with 5,518, eighth in completions with 469, second in yards per attempt at 7.89 and sixth in 300-yard passing games with six.
NC State’s highest-ranked preseason selection is sophomore center Spike Sowells, who earned Second Team honors. Sowells broke into the lineup in the middle of last season and wasted no time making himself a fixture up front. He made six starts, picked up PFF True Freshman All-American recognition and finished with a 68.4 overall PFF grade.
The Wolfpack’s transfer class also shows up well in Steele’s rankings. Linebacker Harvey Dyson, who came over from Tulane, made Third Team after a season that included 36 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks and two forced fumbles. He led the AAC in sacks and posted a 90.4 PFF pass-rush grade that ranked among the nation’s best edge defender marks.
Cornerback Brian Nelson II, another transfer addition, also landed on Third Team. The former North Texas standout finished last season with 29 tackles, six pass breakups and one tackle for loss, and he arrived in Raleigh after earning First Team All-AAC honors.
Victor Snow gives NC State another preseason Third Team nod. The Buffalo transfer was an All-MAC performer in 2025, when he caught 62 passes for 815 yards and eight touchdowns. He also added 91 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and a punt return score, while his 14.5-yard punt return average ranked second in Buffalo program history.
Running back Duke Scott joins Bailey, Sowells, Dyson, Nelson and Snow on the All-ACC list after earning Third Team honors as a kickoff returner. Scott was productive on offense as well, rushing for 581 yards and four touchdowns at 5.5 yards per carry. He also averaged 21.3 yards per kickoff return and recently became the youngest player ever to receive Dave Doeren’s No. 1 jersey.
NC State’s other preseason honorees are a pair of fourth-team selections: offensive tackle Jimarion McCrimon and linebacker Popo Aguirre. McCrimon started every game at left tackle for East Carolina last season and was named First Team All-AAC, giving the Wolfpack another veteran presence on the offensive line. Aguirre, who transferred from Miami, played in all 16 games for the Hurricanes and posted an 86.3 PFF run-defense grade that ranked third on Miami’s defense.
Steele’s list gives NC State a clear snapshot of the roster’s depth and the weight of its returning talent, plus the value of the newcomers who have already made an impression. The preseason recognition is there. Now the Wolfpack have to turn it into production once the season begins.
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NC State Has An ACC Shot If These Questions Finally Break Right
NC States path back into the ACC conversation starts with a lot of familiar offseason math: replace production, find answers and hope the new pieces settle in quickly enough to matter. The Wolfpack are coming off an 8-5 season, but the 2026 version has real work to do after losing its top five receivers and trying to generate more heat off the edge after a pass rush that lagged behind the rest of the league.
A lot of the optimism rests on newcomers and second chances. Trader arrives with a chance to become the go-to target in a reshaped receiver room, while Harvey Dyson is expected to help lift a front that badly needs more disruption. Even with those additions, the questions are spread across the roster, from tight end to cornerback to guard, and how many of them get answered in fall camp may go a long way toward determining whether NC State is merely competitive or actually in the hunt. [Read more 🡒]