Georgia Tech’s Top Offensive Threats NC State Needs to Stop

RALEIGH — NC State, losers of four of the last five games, is a team teetering on the brink of a complete collapse. After a 3-0 start, the 2025 season looked full of promise. Since then, injuries and inconsistency have defined the campaign.

Unfortunately for head coach Dave Doeren and the Wolfpack, the next team to come to Carter-Finley Stadium is No. 8 Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets look like the class of the ACC through their first eight games.

Led by quarterback Haynes King, Georgia Tech will be the most talented offense the Wolfpack has faced to date.

Georgia Tech Offensive Players to Watch

Haynes King

When you see most players limping or hobbling after taking hits during a game, you expect their level of play to dip. King, the do-it-all quarterback of the Yellow Jackets, seems to level up after taking punishment and getting dirt on his jersey. Having led Georgia Tech to national relevance, the Heisman talks are starting to increase for the veteran.

Through eight games, he's completed 133 of his 184 passes for 1,480 yards and seven touchdowns. The more impressive part of King's game is his rushing ability. He's rushed for 651 yards on 113 carries and scored 12 times on the ground. His last time out, he threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 91 yards and a pair of scores. The Wolfpack is facing King at the wrong time.

Jamal Haynes

With the emergence of King, the other Haynes hasn't been the same focal point he was in the 2024 season. However, he remains an explosive threat out of the backfield and showed that in the first few weeks of 2025.

Haynes rushed for 432 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry through the first eight games. He's five games removed from a 107-yard rushing performance against Temple, another fairly weak defensive unit.

Malachi Hosley

Part of what makes Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key's job so easy offensively is that he can deploy three rushers capable of breaking an explosive play on any given Saturday. Hosley is the third prong of the Yellow Jacket rushing attack.

Hosley spent two seasons with the Penn Quakers, where he rushed for 1,915 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award in 2024 before taking his talents to the Institute for his junior season. With the Yellow Jackets, Hosley racked up 488 yards and six touchdowns through two-thirds of the season.

Isiah Canion

While the Yellow Jackets don't throw the ball as frequently as most college offenses, they still have some talented receiving options. Canion leads Georgia Tech with 316 yards through the air and a pair of touchdowns.

At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Canion is an imposing downfield threat who can use his physical traits to make plays. NC State's somewhat undersized corner room could be exposed by an oversized receiver like Canion.

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