Charges against N.C. State players should just blow over

It’s a fair outcome for the marijuana charges against four N.C. State football players to, well, blow over, since the fact that a bunch of college kids were smoking pot hardly ranks as major news. Coach Tom O’Brien refused to go into the issue on Monday in Greensboro and WRAL.com quoted him as saying the issue had been addressed and, “We’re moving on.”

Jakes Vermiglio, Markus Kuhn, George Bryan and J. R. Sweezy were charged April 24 with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The charges against Vermiglio, Kuhn and Sweezy were dropped Tuesday, according to The N&O and WRAL. The case against Bryan was continued.

This is significant because left tackle Vermiglio and tight end Bryan are starters and Kuhn is listed at No. 2 on the depth chart at defensive tackle. State needs all the good players it can get this year as O’Brien tries to turn around a program that is 16-21 under his watch. Already, State will play the season without Rashard Smith, a projected starter at cornerback, because of a knee injury.

Perhaps the most interesting case is Sweezy. He was charged in March of beating up a shuttle bus driver, but PackPride.com reported those charges were dropped last month. Sweezy is not listed on the two-deep, but keep in mind players who get in trouble in the offseason are often not left off the depth chart. Sweezy played in 12 games last season and started against Gardner-Webb.