2024 NC State football preview: The backfield

Photo by Lance King/Getty Images It's not often at this level that you turn over basically an entire position group and you feel better about it, but as with the receiver room, NC State made itself much better with a near total makeover at running back. State did an admirable job taking advantage of what it had on hand in 2023 to run the ball effectively, but this meant lobbing Brennan Armstrong at the line of scrimmage and working in KC Concepcion as often as possible—they ended up first and second in rushing yardage on the season. https://www.ncstatewolfpackgameday.com  That says plenty about the talent on hand last season—though Mimms remains an underrated talent. If you were to throw in Brennan Armstrong, who led the team with 665 rushing yards last season, then State has to replace almost 64% of its rushing production from last season. Is this a concern? Not remotely.In the last third of the season, State leaned on Mimms and Raphael as its backfield tandem, with Allen's opportunities disappearing. Raphael was the only back on the team last season who showed that he could make plays, making an upgrade here an obvious necessity in the offseason. NC State's coaches did not waste any time on this front, bringing in Jordan Waters from Duke and Hollywood Smothers from Oklahoma. Smothers had chosen OU over State in the prior recruiting cycle. Waters is going to prove worth every cent of whatever his NIL deal is, as he multiplies Mimms by Houston by success.