While the first snap of the 2018 season hasn't taken place for Ryan Finley, there is already plenty of buzz about the expectations surrounding the NC State quarterback. Whether it's being named Preseason All-ACC First Team, the Walter Camp Award Watch List or being the No. 2 returning quarterback by Pro Football Focus, Finley has certainly been a hot name all summer long.

But what will come next for Finley? After returning for his final season, many believe Finley can improve his stock and rise into the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Todd McShay of ESPN is certainly a believer. While he doesn't have Finley ranked as a Top 10 prospect in the 2019 class, he ranks him at No. 16 overall. That's so high, in fact, that Finley is the No. 1 quarterback in McShay's preseason draft prospect list.

"He's a pro-style quarterback who's efficient," McShay said of Finley. "He's not great in terms of his physical tools. He's got enough arm strength, he's intelligent, he's played well in tough situations, has a lot of the toughness you look for and he throws with anticipation and gets the ball out on time.

"There are some other players that could start to creep up. But to me -- right now -- Finley is probably the most pro-ready quarterback in college football."

Finley is coming off a season where he threw for 3,518 yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 65.1 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns -- 27 more rushing yards and two more scores than he accounted for in his first three seasons at the college level.

Compared to the rest of the ACC, Finley’s yardage was second behind only Lamar Jackson, his completion percentage was second behind Kelly Bryant and his interceptions was tied with John Wolford for the fewest in the conference among quarterbacks with at least 200 passing attempts.

So what makes Finley one of the most lethal quarterbacks in the entire country? Florida State’s Brian Burns weighed in after facing Finley the last two seasons -- neither of which he recorded a sack on the Pack's signal-caller.

“His release time,” Burns said. “He gets the ball out fast, you probably only have about two seconds to get to him. You really gotta get there. Or you gotta hope something goes wrong in the route tree or something like that...

“You gotta get into his passing lanes. Try to deter his vision to force a high throw or low throw, anything I can do. I’ll even yell sometimes.”

With a chance to make his mark as one of the best quarterbacks to ever suit up for the Wolfpack, Finley will have a much larger spotlight on him than in year's past. But with the best wide receiving corps in the ACC and several other key pieces around him Finley has a chance to solidify himself as a first-rounder -- something only two quarterbacks in Philip Rivers and Roman Gabriel have been able to accomplish.