Where NC State’s 2026 NFL Draft hopefuls are showing up in mock drafts

The NFL Draft is less than a week away. NC State has several players eagerly awaiting next weekend’s event in Pittsburgh to find out where the next stage of their football career will take them. 

And as the three-day draft approaches, the possible landing spots and rounds that the program’s future professionals may land are coming into a clearer focus now. TheWolfpacker.com compiled projections from eight different mock drafts by experts around the country to provide a picture of the possibilities.

Of the predictions, tight end Justin Joly was the lone player that the consensus had in being selected in this year’s event. But he wasn’t the only one to appear in the exercises with cornerback Devon Marshall, defensive tackle Brandon Cleveland and outside linebacker Cian Slone also popping up in the projections. 

CBS Sports placed Joly as a fourth-round pick (No. 111 overall) by the Denver Broncos as the first NC State player off the board. It also had Marshall being selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round (No. 221) and Cleveland going to the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round (No. 254).

ESPN’s Matt Miller, meanwhile, also had Joly going to Denver in the fourth round at No. 111 overall. He slotted Cleveland in as a sixth-round selection by the New England Patriots (No. 212). Additionally, Tankathon placed Joly in that same spot with the Broncos in its four-round mock draft projection. 

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler predicted the highest landing spot for Joly with a third-round selection by the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 88). He also placed Cleveland in his highest projection, going in the fifth round to the Buffalo Bills (No. 168). 

Elsewhere across the landscape, Walter Football logged Joly as a fourth-round pick (No. 119) to the Carolina Panthers in its five-round mock. Pro Football Network had Joly as a fourth-round selection by the Kansas City Chiefs (No. 109) with Marshall going to the Lions in the fifth round (No. 181). Sports Info Solutions, however, sent Joly to the Chargers in the fourth round (No. 123) with Marshall heading to the Raiders in the sixth (No. 185). 

Rounding out the projections is The Sporting News, which believed Marshall would be the first NC State player taken with a fourth-round selection by the New England Patriots (No. 131). It had Joly going nine picks later to the New York Jets (No. 140), while it was the only outlet to predict Slone being taken, going in the seventh round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 229).

NC State’s NFL Draft history

Since Dave Doeren took over at NC State ahead of the 2013 season, the Wolfpack has had 27 players selected in the NFL Draft. Here’s a look at who has heard their name called over the past 13 years.

2014: DB Dontae Johnson (4th round, No. 129 overall, San Francisco 49ers)

2016: OG Joe Thuney (3rd round, No. 78, New England Patriots), QB Jacoby Brissett (3rd round, No. 91, New England Patriots), DB Juston Burris (4th round, No. 118, New York Jets)

2017: DB Josh Jones (2nd round, No. 61, Green Bay Packers), DB Jack Tocho (7th round, No. 245, Minnesota Vikings), RB Matthew Dayes (7th round, No. 252, Cleveland Browns)

2018: DE Bradley Chubb (1st round, No. 5, Denver Broncos), DT B.J. Hill (3rd round, No. 69, New York Giants), DT Justin Jones (3rd round, No. 84, Los Angeles Chargers), RB Nyheim Hines (4th round, No. 104, Indianapolis Colts), DE Kentavius Street (4th round, No. 128, San Francisco 49ers), OT Will Richardson (4th round, No. 129, Jacksonville Jaguars), FB Jaylen Samuels (5th round, No. 165, Pittsburgh Steelers)

2019: C Garrett Bradbury (1st round, No. 18, Minnesota Vikings), LB Germaine Pratt (3rd round, No. 72, Cincinnati Bengals), QB Ryan Finley (4th round, No. 104, Cincinnati Bengals), WR Kelvin Harmon (6th round, No. 206, Washington Redskins)

2020: DT Larrell Murchison (5th round, No. 174, Tennessee Titans), DE James Smith-Williams (7th round, No. 229, Washington Redskins)

2021: DT Alim McNeill (3rd round, No. 72, Detroit Lions)

2022: OT Ikem Ekwonu (1st round, No. 6, Carolina Panthers), P Trenton Gill (7th round, No. 255, Chicago Bears)

2023: OG Chandler Zavala (4th round, No. 114, Carolina Panthers)

2024: LB Payton Wilson (3rd round, No. 98, Pittsburgh Steelers), OG Dylan McMahon (6th round, No. 190, Philadelphia Eagles)

2025: OT Anthony Belton (2nd round, No. 54, Green Bay Packers)