Taking Off The Redshirt: William Beasley

Don't be confused by the picture, William Beasley doesn't play on the offensive side of the ball. From watching film of Beasley, I don't think he would like offense to much. This kid was born to hit. He has good instincts, tackles with proper form and drives his legs all the way through each tackle. Beasley has great closing speed and makes up for slight weakness in lateral movement by being able to walk his opponent down. There isn't much hesitation in Beasley's game, he instinctively reads a play, and reacts. When you see William, you instantly realize that he has found his proper calling. His frame and size scream linebacker. Did I mention that this kid can hit. He is ferocious and understands that true power in tackling is driven from the legs, not the arms, shoulders and chest.

He stands 6'2 and weighs in at 225 (4.6 40 Time). He racked up 129 tackles (13 for loss) his Junior season and 116 tackles (17 for loss) his Senior season. In each of those years he earned Second Team All-State honors in the state of Florida. In high school he was a mystery to scouting analysts. Scout thought he was an Outside Linebacker (#36) and Rivals saw him as an Inside Linebacker. ESPN ranked him as the #19 Inside Linebacker in the class. He actually played both positions at varying amounts at Milton. It looks as if the NC State coaching staff is in agreement with Scout this time. Currently, Beasley is 3rd on the depth chart behind Nate Irving and Audie Cole.

Beasley joins a stacked linebacker corps that includes Nate Irving, Ray Michel, Dwayne Maddox, Sterling Lucas, Terrell Manning and Audie Cole. It's going to be fun to watch Beasley mix it up on Saturday's with this crew.