After redshirt sophomore Devin Leary got injured in No. 23 NC State’s 31-20 victory over Duke Saturday, Oct. 17, the crowd got a taste of a quarterback that had already played a significant number of snaps this season: redshirt junior Bailey Hockman.
Hockman was off to a sterling start to the year against Wake Forest but followed that up with a poor first half against Virginia Tech, which got him yanked in favor of Leary. While he wasn’t particularly bad in the latter stages of the Duke game, the difference in how the offense moved when Hockman was in the game compared to Leary was apparent.
After looking at the sample size, it makes sense why starting Hockman against No. 14 UNC-Chapel Hill, who is looking to bounce back after losing to lowly Florida State, would mean preemptively waving the white flag against Tar Heels. While his shaky play against Duke may be attributed to rust, anything close to resembling how Hockman played against the Blue Devils would mean a disastrous outing in Chapel Hill.
But there’s another option at quarterback that the Wolfpack can turn to, and while turning to him still might lead to a loss, the uncertainty surrounding whether he can play well or not is preferable to the near certainty of the loss the Pack will take against UNC with Hockman under center.
Next up on the depth chart after Hockman is a man with a name that should be familiar to Wolfpack fans, and I’m not referring to the stadium. Ben Finley, younger brother of Ryan Finley of certain renown, is only a freshman at NC State, and has yet to take any meaningful snaps in his collegiate career. And yet so inconsistent is the play of Bailey Hockman that head coach Dave Doeren should at least take a cursory look at the young quarterback.
If he’s anything like his brother, then Ben has the potential to do some really big things for NC State.
Based on some high school football highlights from Ben Finley’s senior year, there’s a lot to like in his arsenal. It’s clear he’s got a big arm for someone his age, so slinging it downfield won’t be a problem for him in college. While he didn’t run much, he moved around in the pocket very well, and can make throws under pressure without the pass rush affecting him too much.
“The thing you like about Ben is he’s very smart,” Doeren said in a Zoom conference call on Monday, Oct. 19. “He has great spatial awareness. He sees things very well, gets the ball out quick. He can run… He’s a good athlete. I was hoping we wouldn’t end up in that scenario where he has to play because you want to get the year in the weight room, I guess you would say, for a freshman quarterback.”
Speaking of his throws, he displayed, at the high school level at least, the ability to add lift on his passes that were just out of the reach of defenders and could drop into the hands of his receivers.
The only flaw that I could nitpick is that he tends to throw to where his receivers are, as opposed to where they’re going. However, he’s got four years of college football ahead of him, and I’m sure he’s going to keep improving in that regard. Sure he’s a freshman, but underneath that inexperience is a talented athlete.
Starting Ben Finley wouldn’t technically be the start of a hypothetical Finley dynasty at NC State, as his brother Ryan has already come and gone. But putting Ben on the field could be the start of something special for Pack football, just like it was when Ryan played.
“[Redshirt freshman quarterback] Ty [Evans] had an injury that kept him out for a long time that allowed Ben to get reps and just gain more knowledge and timing with the offense,” Doeren said. “That’s kind of where that went. Ben’s just got more reps right now…Him and Ty have got to be ready to go out there and help us. I know they’ll put their time in.”
With Leary out for an extended period of time and facing the prospect of seeing Hockman play, the Pack may just need a little something special to pull off the upset against UNC, so they may as well turn to their sideline, call the freshman’s number and hope that a Finley can save the day once again.
