Emeka Emezie and Payton Wilson Look to Grow as a Unit in 2021
RALEIGH NC – Emeka Emezie and Payton Wilson are entering the 2021 season as veteran leaders of the NC State Wolfpack. The speculation around the locker room is that this unit is extremely confident in its ability to play and leadership qualities. Coming off a bizarre season a year ago, Emezie and Wilson believe this team, in particular, is healthy and ready to go and has grown so much over the past couple of seasons.
Usually, when you look up and down a roster, the highlighted position is the guy under center at quarterback. Unfortunately for the Pack, a year ago, their signal-caller Devin Leary’s campaign was cut short due to an injury. However, fifth-year senior WR Emeka Emezie compiled a career-high in yards (738) and tied a career-high in touchdowns (5) with his QB only playing four games in 2020. Emeka stressed the importance of having Leary back because of his leadership on and off the field.
“Devin is just a leader, and he’s very confident, and people look up to him. So as an offense and as a team, everyone knows that everyone looks up to him. If he is in a good mood, then everyone is in a good mood. You kind of go by the vibe of Devin. He’s our leader, and we got him, so to be able to have someone like that is important and gives character to the team, and it is awesome to have a quarterback like that, honestly. He is a true leader.”
Staying healthy is key for the Pack, and speaking of health, looking at the other side of the ball on defense, they also gain a key piece who is 100% once again in LB Payton Wilson. Despite leading the ACC in tackles per game with 10.8, Wilson was bugged with injuries. That is not the case this year. With the adversity the team faced, Wilson believes they are ready to go and win football games.
“Last year from covid, I feel like teams either split apart or grow really close together. Credit to coach Doeren because he did a great job keeping us intact being on zoom calls every day and giving us accountability partners, and the team grew so close from that.” Wilson said.
Wilson believes they started to become a tight group dating back to 2019, where they put up a record of 4-8 and were ranked at the bottom of the barrel in the ACC in terms of total defense.
“I think the growth goes back even further from last year. After that 2019 season as a defense, we really set back and had to change everything with how we played, how we prepared, how we entered a game, and how we finished games. We really took that personally. We were one of the worst defenses in the ACC that year. I think the team and the defense have grown so much in just trying to become the defense we know we can be. 2019 we were plagued with injuries, so a lot of young guys myself included had to play, so we got really close from that as well.”
It takes a full roster to put together a successful season, and this could be the most complete Wolfpack team we have seen in quite some time. It is all about remaining consistent on all three phases of the ball and staying healthy because leadership will not be an issue.