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- BEST IN STATE -

Best In State: All-defense honor roll announced

All-American, all-conference picks headline our top stoppers from the 2023 season

App State's Tyrek Funderburk earned a spot on post-season All-America teams. Photo by Matthew Barnes | Courtesy ASU athletics.

Our Best In State Most Outstanding Defensive Players for 2023 — NC State’s Payton Wilson, Gardner-Webb’s Ty French, Wingate’s Marquise Fleming and NC Wesleyan’s Ronechie Carter — only represent the tip of the iceberg of stellar defensive play this season.

Here is our 2023 NC Football News All-State Defensive Honor Roll. We used All-America teams, All-Region teams, All-Conference teams, season stats and other factors to choose our honor roll.

We are super strong at linebacker, have a stout defensive line group and plenty of ball hawks in the secondary. Players are listed by main position group and organized by division and the alphabet.

—> READ MORE about our four Most Outstanding Defensive Players here

—> READ MORE about our Most Outstanding Special Teams Players (with honor roll) here

UNC Pembroke’s Jamae Blank earned conference and regional honors for strong play on the defensive line. Graphic/photo courtesy UNC Pembroke athletics.

2023 Honor Roll Defensive Line

  • Aeneas Peebles | FBS | Duke
  • D’Anta Johnson | FBS | East Carolina
  • DeWayne Carter | FBS | Duke
  • Eyabi Okie-Anoma | FBS | Charlotte
  • Jasheen Davis | FBS | Wake Forest
  • Kaimon Rucker | FBS | North Carolina
  • Santana Hopper | FBS | Appalachian State
  • Jaden Taylor | FCS | North Carolina Central
  • Jonathan Hammond | FCS | Davidson
  • Julian Rawlins | FCS | Davidson
  • Marlon Alexander | FCS | Western Carolina
  • Marvin Pearson | FCS | Elon
  • Ty French | FCS | Gardner-Webb – Most Outstanding FCS Defender
  • Adam Aiken | D2 | St. Augustine’s
  • Andre Jefferson | D2 | Lenoir-Rhyne
  • Anthony Binyard | D2 | Fayetteville State
  • Boris Lewis | D2 | Mars Hill
  • Bryan Bordeaux | D2 | Wingate
  • Damipi Lamboni | D2 | Mars Hill
  • Daniel Morrison | D2 | Wingate
  • Jamae Blank | D2 | UNC Pembroke
  • Kyle Camar | D2 | Winston-Salem State
  • Marquise Fleming | D2 | Wingate – Most Outstanding Division II Defender
  • Raydarius Freeman | D2 | UNC Pembroke
  • Saevion Gibbs | D2 | Shaw
  • Traevon Mitchell | D2 | Chowan
  • Andrew Bradshaw | D3 | Methodist
  • Robert Dorsey | D3 | Brevard
  • Ervine Gardner | NAIA | St. Andrews
  • Xzavier Fields | JUCO | Louisburg

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Jon Ross Maye and the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears won 13 games this past season. Photo courtesy LR athletics.

2023 Honor Roll Linebackers

  • Andrew Parker Jr. | FBS | Appalachian State
  • Cedric Gray | FBS | North Carolina
  • Demetrius Knight II | FBS | Charlotte
  • Nate Johnson | FBS | Appalachian State
  • Payton Wilson | FBS | NC State – Most Outstanding FBS Defender
  • Power Echols | FBS | North Carolina
  • Tre Freeman | FBS | Duke
  • BJ Turner | FCS | North Carolina A&T
  • Brandon Tyson | FCS | Elon
  • Brendan Jackson | FCS | Gardner-Webb
  • CJ Tillman | FCS | Campbell
  • Jayden Flaker | FCS | North Carolina Central
  • Marco Patierno | FCS | Elon
  • William McRainey | FCS | Gardner-Webb
  • Benari Black | D2 | Johnson C. Smith
  • Dexter Fitzpatrick | D2 | Mars Hill
  • Dontorian Best | D2 | Wingate
  • Jack Smith | D2 | Johnson C. Smith
  • Jaden Echols | D2 | Livingstone
  • Jameison Alston | D2 | St. Augustine’s
  • Jon Ross Maye | D2 | Lenoir-Rhyne
  • Landon Honeycutt | D2 | Mars Hill
  • Matt Smith | D2 | Barton
  • Percy King | D2 | Lenoir-Rhyne
  • Saige Ley | D2 | UNC Pembroke
  • Shane Perry | D2 | Barton
  • Charles Sias | D3 | North Carolina Wesleyan
  • Joey Strong | D3 | Guilford
  • Max Steele | D3 | Greensboro

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Caleb Curtain had a solid season for the Elon Phoenix, earning multiple post-season honors. Photo by Tim Cowie Photography | Courtesy Elon athletics.

2023 Honor Roll Defensive Backs

  • Aydan White | FBS | NC State
  • Ethan Johnson | FBS | Appalachian State
  • Julius Wood | FBS | East Carolina
  • Malik Mustapha | FBS | Wake Forest
  • Shavon Revel | FBS | East Carolina
  • Tyrek Funderburk | FBS | Appalachian State
  • Andreas Keaton | FCS | Western Carolina
  • Brandon Codrington | FCS | North Carolina Central
  • Caleb Curtain | FCS | Elon
  • Daniel Carter | FCS | Davidson
  • Jaidyn Denis | FCS | Elon
  • Ja’Kai Young | FCS | Gardner-Webb
  • Jamari Brown | FCS | Gardner-Webb
  • Jason Chambers | FCS | North Carolina Central
  • Keyshawn Pickett | FCS | UNC Pembroke
  • Booker Peake | D2 | St. Augustine’s
  • C’Darius Kelley | D2 | Lenoir-Rhyne
  • Deno Wardlow | D2 | Catawba
  • Dequan Mosley | D2 | Wingate
  • James Ussery | D2 | Lenoir-Rhyne
  • Justin Fleming | D2 | Winston-Salem State
  • Kolby Merritt | D2 | Fayetteville State
  • Monroe Sanderson | D2 | Mars Hill
  • Sean Hill | D2 | UNC Pembroke
  • Tre Morrison | D2 | Wingate
  • Tristan Rankin | D2 | Mars Hill
  • Jaden James | D3 | Greensboro
  • Larry Jones | D3 | Greensboro
  • Ronechie Carter | D3 | North Carolina Wesleyan – Most Outstanding Division III Defender
  • William Paithorpe | D3 | Greensboro
  • Lavarius Heath-Lewis | NAIA | St. Andrews
  • Brandon Perry | JUCO | Louisburg

—> READ MORE about our four Most Outstanding Defensive Players here

—> READ MORE about our Most Outstanding Special Teams Players (with honor roll) here

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