JacketsOnline.com - Letter of intent No. 5: TE David Grinnage

February 1, 2012

David Grinnage
Tight end
Newark (Del.) High
6-foot-5, 240 pounds

Measurables: Ran the 40-yard dash in 5.18 seconds and the shuttle in 5.00 seconds at the Baltimore Nike Football Training Camp ... Also had a 28.7-inch vertical leap.

Honors/accomplishments: Ranked by Rivals.com as a two-star prospect and the second best player in Delaware ... Listed by SuperPrep as the No. 39 recruit in the Mid-Atlantic Region ... Called a three-star prospect, the No. 2 player in the state and No. 29 tight end in the country by 247Sports ... Listed by Scout.com as a three-star recruit and the No. 21 tight end nationally ... Regarded by ESPN as a two-star player, the third best prospect from Delaware and No. 84 tight end nationally ... Named first-team all-state as a tight end and first-team all-conference as a defensive end in 2011.

Stats: Hauled in 45 passes for around 680 yards and six touchdowns as a senior ... Helped Newark go 12-1 and reach the state finals in Division I ... Caught 13 passes for 186 yards and three scores and had 34 tackles, including nine for loss and three sacks, and two pass breakups as a junior.

Off the field: Also plays first base in baseball.

Quotable: "He's an eye-test guy, he wasn't as high on the radar of college coaches but when I introduced him to coaches, you could just see the look on their faces. The comments were consistently about how impressive he looks for a young guy. Honestly, he moves very well and he catches the ball as well as anybody I've ever coached. He has the kind of hands where you simply don't hear the ball go into his hands when he's catching it, even the short, hard pass. He just engulfs the ball." - Newark head coach Butch Simpson

Recruitment: NC State always tries to sign at least one tight end in its recruiting class, and after missing out on a couple of targets, turned to Grinnage after he turned in a solid performance at NC State's summer camp. Grinnage quickly accepted the scholarship when offered June 28.

Recruiter of record: Defensive backs coach Mike Reed

2012 projection: With the return of rising fifth-year senior Mario Carter and Asa Watson back in the mix after redshirting his junior season in 2011, NC State is in fairly solid shape depth wise at tight end. Grinnage would have to beat out rising redshirt junior Anthony Talbert and rising redshirt freshman Benson Browne for that third tight end spot if he wants to play this fall.