By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Former Cummings star Jonathan Paylor is out with an injury that has sidelined him for at least the beginning of North Carolina State’s football season.
This comes after Paylor, a redshirt freshman multi-purpose back, had received high praise last month.
But as preseason camp wound down, word surfaced that Paylor had suffered an injury.
Coach Dave Doeren declined to discuss the injury status of players in the lead-up to last Thursday night’s opener against visiting East Carolina. N.C. State sent out pregame media notes without providing a depth chart earlier last week.
On a game-day depth chart, Paylor wasn’t listed before the Wolfpack defeated East Carolina 24-17. He’s not listed for this weekend’s game vs. Virginia either.
Following the mid-August rumblings that Paylor had been injured, word had spread to some of his former Cummings teammates. Attending the August 22 high school season opener, they said they knew Paylor had a significant injury.
Doeren spoke glowingly about Paylor in August.
“I think last year he was learning how to be a college football player and learning how to play receiver for him,” Doeren said. “Because, as you know, on the offense he was in (during high school), he was doing everything, and so just honing him in on that. Then in the spring, getting him the ball other ways. And so he’s grown a lot since he got here.”
The Wolfpack coach also compared Paylor to former N.C. State standout Nyheim Hines, who’s in the NFL.
“I think it’s really similar thing,” Doeren said. “They were both guys that carried the ball a lot in high school, that we had them be a wideout. Now, how can we get them the ball in other ways? Which is what they did in high school. For them, it’s more comfortable, probably, when they get the ball, and just running routes, where you may get seven or eight a game . . . if you’re lucky. But it’s been a smoother transition, not than Nyheim, but just than I expected. I thought he (has) done a really good job picking things up.”
In 2024, Paylor appeared in three games (vs. Tennessee, Western Carolina and East Carolina), allowing him to preserve a redshirt season.
Cummings (0-2) has matched its regular-season loss total for both 2023 and 2024.
