N.C. State sets school record for number of players drafted

ARLINGTON, Texas -- N.C. State had a talented, senior-laden football team this past season with high hopes of making a run at the ACC title and flooding the NFL draft with pro prospects.

Expectations fell a little short for 2017 - despite a 9-4 season and a bowl win - but the Wolfpack certainly fulfilled the latter, with a school-record seven players chosen in the 2018 NFL Draft,

It all began, of course, with defensive lineman Bradley Chubb, expected to be one of the first picks of the draft.

Chubb, the consensus top pass rusher in the draft, went No. 5 overall Thursday night to the Denver Broncos.

Next off the board, on Friday, was Chubb's defensive linemate, B.J. Hill. The big tackle went in the third round, 69th overall, to the New York Giants.

A third defensive lineman, Justin Jones, was also selected in the third round. The Chargers made him the 84th overall pick.

Running back Nyheim Hines waited three days for his name to be called, and on Saturday the wait ended in the fourth round when the former Garner product was taken 104th overall by the Indianapolis Colts.

Hines was a dominant do-it-all speedster for the Wolfpack, who led the Atlantic Coast Conference in all-purpose yards last season and could contribute right away returning kicks for the Colts.

The next Wolfpack off the board was Kentavius Street, who was picked up in the fourth round at the 128th spot by the 49ers.

There had been some speculation about where Street would fall in the draft order - or whether he would be taken at all - after he sustained a serious knee injury that will likely cause him to miss an entire season.

For the 49ers, Street's relentless attitude and work ethic made the torn ACL a non-factor.

That selection meant all four N.C. State defensive line starters were taken in the first four rounds.

the Jaguars had the very next pick and took Wolfpack offensive lineman Will Richardson (129th overall).

N.C. State's offensive touchdown machine Jaylen Samuels had to wait all the way until the 28th pick of the fifth round (165th overall) to hear his name called.

The Steelers took Samuels, adding versatile firepower to their already explosive offense.