Assessing NC State's Safeties Before the Summer

RALEIGH — Like many programs around the country, NC State needed to rebuild a huge portion of its roster during the 2026 offseason to ensure it could compete in Dave Doeren's 14th season leading the team. A major part of that rebuild took place on the defensive side of the field, where Doeren and his staff lost several critical pieces.

The back end of the secondary, particularly the safeties, was decimated by injuries during the 2025 season. Because of those losses, some younger players struggled in elevated roles at the two safety spots, but some developed nicely as their workload increased. To supplement those younger pieces, Doeren and defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot brought in some reinforcements. What does the safety group look like heading into the summer?

The free safeties

Michigan State's Alessio Milivojevic, center, is sacked by Penn State's King Mack, top, and Amare Campbell during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NC State wanted a veteran voice to help some of the returners in the safeties group improve after they went through their trials and tribulations as freshmen and redshirt freshmen. Enter King Mack, a senior who spent time at both Penn State and Alabama, two of the most notable programs in the country. Mack racked up 58 tackles, three pass deflections, an interception and a sack in his junior season with the Nittany Lions. He is a shoo-in for the starting role at free safety.

Behind Mack is where things get interesting for the Wolfpack. With the rotation of young safeties last year, there are options for Eliot and safeties coach Charlton Warren to choose from. Brody Barnhardt was showing signs of improvement before a season-ending injury derailed his redshirt freshman season. There's also a chance Asaad Brown continues to flip between nickel and safety, after playing both roles for the Pack a year ago.

The strong safeties

All signs point to Tristan Teasdell taking over at strong safety as a sophomore. In his first collegiate season, Teasdell was thrown into the fire because of the pile of injuries in his position group, starting five games down the stretch after playing just 10 snaps in the first eight weeks of the year. He quietly put together a very nice run as a true freshman, even tallying an interception in the Pack's loss to Pitt.

With Teasdell in the starting role, expect Ronnie Royal III to serve as his primary backup. Royal was one of the most up-and-down performers of the 2025 season, often dealing with coverage issues, but also bringing a hard-nosed mindset and strong ability to hit. The coaching staff gave him a lot of leeway in his redshirt freshman campaign, so there might be even more trust now that he has more experience. Still, Teasdell will get the nod first.

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