North Carolina State Wolfpack Football: Grading the Defense in 2011

After a 9-4 season in 2010, including a trip to the Champs Sports Bowl against West Virginia, NC State looks to improve and maybe fight for an ACC title in 2011.

Here, I will go through position by position and grade each unit of the defense.

From the linemen to the secondary, each unit is equally important in assuring a successful 2011 campaign.

The Wolfpack return eight of their starters from last season's team.

With so many starters returning, it's expected for this unit to improve from the 2010 season.

NC State does lose three key defensive lineman, but a unit made up of strong linebackers and defensive backs makes up for that.

Upfront defensively, the Wolfpack will have some rebuilding to do.

They lose two starters from last season and will be the weak link of the defense.

They do, however, start three seniors (Rieskamp, Sweezy and Kuhn) and camp will be a great opportunity to see who gets the remaining starting spots upfront.

This unit could be really good, or they could be really bad.

I'm guessing somewhere in the middle.

It’s tough to say which is better, the line backing unit or the defensive backs. I’ll explain further in the next slide.

The front seven of the Wolfpack will rely heavily on the leadership of senior Audie Cole (featured in the picture).

Cole is one of the top linebackers in the ACC and will need to play every game at his A-game in order for the linebacking core to be successful.

As mentioned in the previous slide, it’s close between the linebackers and defensive backs as to which is the stronger unit. As is pretty apparent by the grades, the defensive backs get the slight edge.

The main reason for that is safety Earl Wolff. College football fans often overlook Wolff, but he should have an all-American type of season in 2011.

Wolff is really, really good.