News from NC State’s 2026 Pro Day

By Noah Fleischman

Scouts from all 32 NFL teams and five Canadian Football League squads descended on NC State’s Close-King Indoor Practice Facility for the Wolfpack’s Pro Day on Tuesday afternoon. 

The program showcased 19 Pack players, while two former professionals looked to get back in front of team personnel in pursuit of getting back on a roster for the 2026 season.

Let’s dive into the news and notes from the event.

– Tight end Justin Joly, NC State’s top draft prospect did not run a 40-yard dash after he tweaked his hamstring last week in pre-draft training. He was planning to do so after not participating in the test at the NFL Scouting Combine last month in Indianapolis, but still elected to go through his positional drills alongside fellow tight ends Cody Hardy and Dante Daniels. 

— Defensive lineman Brandon Cleveland, who also went to the NFL Scouting Combine, did not run either. He did partake in his position drills. Cleveland turned in a 5.12 40-yard dash with a 1.78 10-yard split at the combine last month.

– Former NC State quarterback Devin Leary was back on campus. Although he finished his collegiate career at Kentucky in 2023, the signal-caller threw for Wolfpack wideout Wesley Grimes, and Daniels and Joly. 

Leary was invited to be the Pro Day quarterback after coach Dave Doeren crossed paths with him at former linebacker Drake Thomas’ wedding last month, and he took his former coach up on the offer. He was most recently with the Baltimore Ravens, but was cut on Aug. 26 as a part of the final roster cuts. Pro Day was an opportunity for Leary to throw in front of scouts again, many of whom stopped to have long conversations with him afterwards. 

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound quarterback threw the ball well in the event, launching passes all over the field. Leary put a quality amount of zip on his passes, while hitting every receiver on the hands throughout the session. He was able to make his throws at all levels of the field, including several 50-yard passes before wrapping up his afternoon in Raleigh. 

– Speaking of former NC State players that are now in the process of getting back on an NFL roster, center Zeke Correll went through positional drills at Pro Day. He’s coming off a broken leg suffered in the preseason during his time with the Minnesota Vikings this past season. Correll wanted to prove to all 32 teams that he was healthy and ready to work his way onto a roster in camp this coming summer.

– Although defensive tackle KaTron Evans is currently on NC State’s roster, he went through all of the Pro Day activities. Why? The Marshall transfer is waiting on an NCAA waiver to earn an additional season of eligibility due to only playing three full seasons of college football prior to arriving to the Wolfpack this offseason. Since he hasn’t signed with an agent for professional purposes, Evans is allowed to practice with the team this spring until his waiver is decided.

Here’s a look at the top five testing numbers from the 40-yard dash (unofficial), bench press and vertical jump from the Pro Day.

40-yard dash (unofficial)

Name	Time
WR Wesley Grimes	4.35
CB Devon Marshall	4.40
LB Tra Thomas	4.51
LB Caden Fordham	4.52
EDGE Cian Slone	4.60

Bench press

Name	Number of reps
DE Sabastian Harsh	28
TE Cody Hardy & DL KaTron Evans	26
DE Travali Price & EDGE Cian Slone	23
DL Chazz Wallace & OL Anthony Carter Jr.	22
LB Caden Fordham	20

Vertical jump

Name	Best jump (inches)
EDGE Cian Slone	35.5
WR Wesley Grimes	35.0
LB Sean Brown	34.5
LB Tra Thomas & DB Devon Marshall	32.5
S JJ Johnson	31.0