Gridiron Heroics partners with Draft Scout to give each school’s Top 5 NFL Draft prospects in the ACC. Welcome to a list of the NC State Top 5 NFL Draft prospects from the 2023 class, as seen by Draft Scout.
Each week brings us closer and closer to one of the most anticipated days on the sports calendar — the NFL Draft. This year’s draft will be held in Kansas City, Mo. from April 27-29. Starting today? We take a look at the NC State seniors, the class of 2023. Since we don’t know yet which underclassmen will declare? We’ll reconfigure the rankings when that happens, so be sure to revisit us.
Our ACC Draft prospect series will run beginning Nov. 7 and will run for the next week, with three schools running per day in alphabetical order. A master conference list of the ACC’s Top 20 NFL draft prospects will wrap things up on Monday, Nov. 14. Please check the team links below frequently so you can check out the other schools’ top prospects as the week progresses.
ACC TOP 20 PROSPECTS: Overall ACC Top Prospect List
ACC ATLANTIC PROSPECTS: Boston College | Clemson | Florida State | Louisville | N.C. State | Syracuse | Wake Forest
ACC COASTAL PROSPECTS: Duke | Georgia Tech | Miami | North Carolina | Pittsburgh | Virginia | Virginia Tech
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So, we all know that not every team in the country has five surefire draft picks on it. Some programs do, especially in some of the more elite conferences, but the vast majority don’t have that many top-flight prospects. But, we also know that the definition “top-flight” doesn’t always pan out, and at the same time that strong undrafted free agent everybody forgot? He ends up making an NFL and flourishing.
Below is a look at the NC State Top 5 Draft Prospects, and how they project in the eyes of Draft Scout. Again, for now, we’ll go strictly with seniors (c/o 2023), as no underclassmen have been allowed to declare earlier yet, though when they do? We’ll update the lists below.
N.C. STATE TOP 5 NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS
NO. 1 PROSPECT
NAME: Cory Durden, DT
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: 5th to 6th round
CAREER STATISTICS: Durden began his career at Florida State in 2018, and in his five years as a college contributor in the ACC, he has 112 tackles, 19 TFLs, 11 sacks.
THE TRUTH: Durden is a massive prospect at 6-foot-4, 305 pounds. The NFL Scouts are curious about him, but not 100 percent sold based one what we’re seeing — but it’s better to be noticed and have the pros be curious than to have them oblivious.
NO. 2 PROSPECT
NAME: Devin Leary, QB
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: 7th round
CAREER STATISTICS: After two years of not being the primary guy, Leary clearly changed that in 2021 when he threw for 3,433 yards with 35 TDs and only 5 INTs. Leary is legit and that has a big part of him being included as a potential draft pick.
THE TRUTH: A New Jersey native, Leary has been productive from day one back in 2019 — when given the chance. As a freshman in 2019, he threw for 1,219 yards and 8 TDs and really things have not gone south for him since, even with the pandemic. Keep an eye on this QB prospect.
NO. 3 PROSPECT
NAME: Isaiah Moore, LB
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: HPFA
CAREER STATISTICS: Moore had 259 tackles and 28.5 TFLs coming into 2022, his senior season.
THE TRUTH: Some scouts have Moore as a 7th-to-HPFA level prospect. He’s that good. The Virginia native was noted by scouts in the DraftScout network to have enough juice in 2021 to have gotten some notice for his talent. This upcoming spring should net him a solid chance to prove himself.
NO. 4 PROSPECT
NAME: Darryl Jones, WR
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: HPFA
CAREER STATISTICS: Transfer WR from Maryland
THE TRUTH: An interesting prospect coming over from ACC rival Maryland. Jones joined the Terps program in 2018 out of high school. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound has shown a lot of talent, but not necessarily the numbers. He’ll get a shot, though.
NO. 5 PROSPECT
NAME: Dreshun Miller, CB
DRAFTSCOUT PROJECTION: HPFA
CAREER STATISTICS: Auburn transfer
THE TRUTH: Miller is a proven talent, but he’s been in a couple of programs (JUCO, WVU, Auburn, NCST) — starting with West Virginia. It’s a key question to see how this is viewed by scouts, who like continuity.
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