(Photo: Craig Jones, Getty)
Starter: Philip Rivers
Bench: Russell Wilson | Ryan Finley | Mike Glennon
This one is fairly obvious. While the Wolfpack has had a stellar run of quarterbacks in the 2000s with Russell Wilson, Ryan Finley, Mike Glennon, Jacoby Brissett, Devin Leary and now CJ Bailey looking to carve out his place, no one is touching Philip Rivers' legacy with the Wolfpack.
From the moment Rivers stepped on campus at NC State, he was a star. First-year head coach Chuck Amato put his trust in Rivers from the jump and it led to a career that likely won't ever be topped in Raleigh. His name is littered throughout the record books, including his 13,484 passing yards, 95 touchdown passes and his three games with five touchdown passes and seven games with 400 passing yards or more.
Rivers is the obvious choice for the starter, but the bench was far more difficult. It's hard to leave off players like Brissett and Leary who were great in individual seasons, but the multi-year sample sizes of Wilson, Finley and Glennon put them over the top.
Regardless of how he finished his career, Wilson was an NC State graduate who had several of Rivers' records in sight after three years with the Pack. Wilson compiled 76 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing scores in three seasons in Raleigh, earning ACC Rookie of the Year and All-ACC First Team honors.
As for Finley and Glennon, neither went on to have as prolific of NFL careers as the other two, but both finished with 60-plus touchdowns as multi-year starters. While Leary finished with better overall numbers than Finley in terms of overall scoring, Finley is the only other quarterback outside of Rivers to pass for more than 10,000 yards in school history -- and he did it in just three years.