Shadrach Thornton

Thornton burst onto the scene as a freshman and led the ‘Pack with 694 yards rushing despite not playing in the team’s first four games. He left spring behind Tony Creecy as the new coaching staff is clearly valuing its upperclassmen. Thornton showed slightly better burst than Creecy, mixing four games of 87 yards or more in with four games under 30 yards. James Washington and Brandon Barnes are done in Raleigh, so Thornton doesn’t have quite the competition for carries in 2013, but his upside remains limited. N.C State welcomes three new backs onto campus for August drills, all of which are of the smaller, quicker variety, a scary proposition for Creecy and Thornton.