duke football news

[hart2chesson]

Yeah she was responding to several posters comments on her son being a disappointment and that he never developed. Well as she pointed out we just don't know what kind of things are going on behind the scenes. John was in the two deep for 2 years and then disappeared. Well some comments were made on the other board that were strong enough to make her come out and tell us about his spinal injury. Duke does not and should not release injury info so we are in the dark on these kids. I have been guilty of this before myself. Now after learning of Carrs, Wrotens and Gelottes injuries I think I will now keep all development comments to myself. These kids picked Duke and gave us their all so thank you to the kids.

surf I think you make a very good point. We do not know what's going on behind the scenes. We should be careful about our opinions, particularly about injured players development.

On the other hand if I feel a regular or starter is playing poorly, or not maxing effort I may have constructive comments. I think parents have to expect some negative comments of a passionate and KNOWLEDGABLE fanbase (like ours here).At the same time we can be respectful.

OFC

 

[Devilinside]

surf I think you make a very good point. We do not know what's going on behind the scenes. We should be careful about our opinions, particularly about injured players development.

On the other hand if I feel a regular or starter is playing poorly, or not maxing effort I may have constructive comments. I think parents have to expect some negative comments of a passionate and KNOWLEDGABLE fanbase (like ours here).At the same time we can be respectful.

OFC

I totally agree as long as the comments are based upon actual observation of the player's performance and not upon speculation about the causes of the poor performance.

OFC

 

[surfdevil]

so another transfer commits today
Dan Volpe 6'6'' 320lb OT from Townson
made the 2022 FCS All American freshman team
has 3 years left to play
i think this could be a really big pick up. position of need for sure

 

[Devilinside]

so another transfer commits today
Dan Volpe 6'6'' 320lb OT from Townson
made the 2022 FCS All American freshman team
has 3 years left to play
i think this could be a really big pick up. position of need for sure

Thanks, Surf. Great way to start the New Year. OFC

 

[Liftee]

From two minutes of research, it looks like this young man was lightly recruited out of high school, but did well in his one year at Towson. His coach wasn't retained so he's leaving. He was offered by Univ of Kansas as well.

With 3 years of eligibility remaining, the Elko team will have lots of time to develop him. Good pickup.

 

[ConorONeill]

Elijah Wroten entered the portal -- participated in Senior Day.

 

[surfdevil]

So it seems the big fish P5 transfer is on campus and is attending class in the spring. Don't know why but an insider on another board said that they are not going to release his name anytime soon. Beats me. Guess we will find out who when the spring roster is announced. Would love to know at least what position he plays. Conor do you know or are you sworn to secrecy also

 

[ConorONeill]

So it seems the big fish P5 transfer is on campus and is attending class in the spring. Don't know why but an insider on another board said that they are not going to release his name anytime soon. Beats me. Guess we will find out who when the spring roster is announced. Would love to know at least what position he plays. Conor do you know or are you sworn to secrecy also

I did hear who it was; going to try to confirm it tomorrow, along with something else. Was told to me on the field at the Military Bowl and falls into a gray area of not knowing whether it was reportable or not.

 

[Another#1Dukie]

Looks like Duke finishes the season just outside the T25 at 26. Ahead of uncheat and the wuf pac. Eager to hear the news on who this recruit is and the other info @surfdevil and @ConorONeill. I'm not sure I've ever been more excited for a Duke FB season!

 

[Liftee]

Finishing 26th the year after being just about the worst team in the country is an amazing accomplishment. Just amazing. I am so proud of Elko and his staff and the players who hung in there to turn it around.

 

[ConorONeill]

So the transfer everybody has been patiently waiting on is Myles Jones, a cornerback from Texas A&M. Here's his bio page from them.

He's a 6-4, 190-pound CB -- so quite a big body for a CB. Going to be in his 7th season next year; he played 46 games in his first four seasons (2017-20), but has only played in 3 games in the past two seasons. He had 32 PBUs and 121 tackles across his first four seasons.

Jones has already enrolled for the spring semester. My guess on the hush-hush nature of things is twofold: One, they've got to make *sure* he's cleared by the NCAA for a medical redshirt, which is basically a formality, and two, they've got to make sure his medical evals clear him to play.

Datrone Young ran out of eligibility, so Duke needed another CB. Given Jones is healthy, it should make for a great competition between Joshua Pickett, Chandler Rivers and Jones to be the starting corners; and then the staff makes the big bucks to figure out if Brandon Johnson should stay at nickel or move back to safety, with whoever isn't a starting CB moving to the nickel.

(struck out on the other thing but in related news, ACC schedules get released on Jan. 30)

 

[Liftee]

Wow a big and tall defensive back! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me! It's been a "thing" for me for several years, seeing our guys out fought and out jumped for 50/50 balls.

This coaching staff is KILLING it (sorry for yelling)!

 

[ConorONeill]

Wow a big and tall defensive back! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me! It's been a "thing" for me for several years, seeing our guys out fought and out jumped for 50/50 balls.

This coaching staff is KILLING it (sorry for yelling)!

The tall WRs vs. short CBs aspect is something I've dug deep into a time or two while covering the Wake Forest side of things, given how strong their WR corps has been.

It basically boils down to the lower levels of football taking kids with height and making them WRs at an early age. It's a pet peeve of mine. There's a lot else that goes into it, but in general it falls under the "offensive-cation" of football. Fans want to see points; good offense beats good defense most often; more offensive coaches get hired as head coaches (last year's cycle with Elko and Venables was rare).

But to the point at hand ... yes, Myles Jones is a big-time addition for Duke's secondary (granted he is/stays healthy).

 

[Liftee]

Conor, thank you. As always, I never thought of the point you make which makes perfect sense.

 

[jeffrey236]

I’ve been praying for a tall CB for several years now. As Liftee said, we have gotten burned so many times for 50/50 balls because we’ve had CB’s typically around 5’10”. As Conor noted, tall WR’s are the style these days, and I don’t see that trend ever reversing. Wonderful news! We’re lucky to be very strong at the offensive “skill” positions - it’s great to see us picking up some less glamorous, but just as critical, “meat and potatoes” guys.

 

[surfdevil]

so looking at OL guys coming back along with recruits and transfers coming in here is our list of kids

OT graham barton 6'5'' 311lbs, caleb perez 6'5'' 303 lbs, brian parker 6'5'' 295 lbs, dan volpe 6'6'' 320 lbs, justin pickett 6'7'' 316 lbs, (true frosh) ethan hubbard 6'6'' 285 lbs and (true frosh) caleb dorris 6'6'' 265 lbs. i think we are good here. we have a 3 deep along with a swing tackle for injury. hard to believe the size of these guys. remember getting tight ends and trying to grow them into tackles?

IOL jacob monk 6'3'' 298 lbs, matt maycraft 6'3'' 277 lbs, steve nahmois 6'3'' 289 lbs, ben hoitink 6'4'' 312 lbs, michael purcell 6'4'' 308 lbs, jake hornibrook 6'4'' 308 lbs and (true frosh) reagan mccranie 6'2'' 330 lbs. i feel like we are one light here at least. it would take 2 more kids to make a 3 deep.

i am an old school football player who believes you win in the trenches. why does the SEC dominate college football? they almost always have the best front 7 on defense and the best oline when they step out of conference. i think Elko knows this and that is why we are getting SIZE up front now.

 

[ConorONeill]

Officially official on the 5 mid-year transfers:

 

[surfdevil]

okay so while i was writing my earlier post we announce the transfer of Dustyn Hall, a 6' 3.5'' 308 lb IOL kid from USF. technically not a P5 kid but right there. guess they agreed with me that we needed at least one more kid inside.
was this the second thing you were trying to get an answer on the other day Conor?

 

[ConorONeill]

So along with those 5, keep in mind the 10 early enrollees:

CB Moussa Kane
DE Desmond Aladuge
LB Luke Mergott
QB Grayson Loftis
TE Vance Bolyard
WR Apollos Cook
DE Semaj Turner
RB Peyton Jones
RB Marquise Collins
CB Quentin Ajiero

 

[ConorONeill]

Christian Rorie to the portal; went through Senior Day.

 

[ConorONeill]

okay so while i was writing my earlier post we announce the transfer of Dustyn Hall, a 6' 3.5'' 308 lb IOL kid from USF. technically not a P5 kid but right there. guess they agreed with me that we needed at least one more kid inside.
was this the second thing you were trying to get an answer on the other day Conor?

Naw, I wanted to get a schedule tidbit confirmed. Have to wait until the Jan. 30 release.

Duke added another transfer, Dan Volpe, who enrolled today. He's the OT from Towson.

 

[surfdevil]

so goduke.com updated the duke football roster. two names that i have not heard anything about are not on the roster. te andrew jones and db trent broadnax are not listed. any idea conor or are these just kids asked/shown the door to free up schollies.

 

[ConorONeill]

Sorry Surf, just now seeing this. I'll check on them.

In the meantime: Ahmad Craig to the portal (participated in Senior Day).

 

[ConorONeill]

They are indeed in the portal (or plan to enter shortly). Think they'll make announcements on their own time.

Smith went through Senior Day; Broadnax did not.

 

[kingbluedevil]

Daniel Jones great day with the Giants beat the Vikings on the road.

 

[surfdevil]

smith?

 

[ConorONeill]

My bad, meant Jones. Matt Smith already announced he's transferring.

To clarify: Andrew Jones is also transferring.

 

[skysdad]

Daniel Jones great day with the Giants beat the Vikings on the road.

Love to see he's playing so well. Getting some protection now and making better decisions. If they beat the Eagles who knows. OFC

 

[Liftee]

I said this before, but Daniel Jones coming through Duke and succeeding in the NFL has to show QB recruits that Duke can get you to the NFL. And Riley Leonard is not hurting one bit with that message!

 

[jeffrey236]

I said this before, but Daniel Jones coming through Duke and succeeding in the NFL has to show QB recruits that Duke can get you to the NFL. And Riley Leonard is not hurting one bit with that message!

Even without the “Quarterback Whisperer” there any longer? 🤪

 

[Liftee]

Funny, I was saying to my wife this morning that Cut will be smiling that he "discovered" Daniel. I have no problem with giving him credit. I also have no problem with giving Elko credit for bringing the program back from the brink of disaster.

 

[hart2chesson]

Funny, I was saying to my wife this morning that Cut will be smiling that he "discovered" Daniel. I have no problem with giving him credit. I also have no problem with giving Elko credit for bringing the program back from the brink of disaster.

Imagine if DJ had played under an OC like Kevin Johns, minus Cut's playbook!! OFC

 

[Liftee]

Imagine if DJ had played under an OC like Kevin Johns, minus Cut's playbook!! OFC

Or with the offensive line that Elko put together. I recall vividly Daniel running for his life repeatedly. Of course, that did prepare him for his first 3 years with the Giants.

 

[hart2chesson]

Or with the offensive line that Elko put together. I recall vividly Daniel running for his life repeatedly. Of course, that did prepare him for his first 3 years with the Giants.

True Lift, DJ could do nothing because of that NY OL. Even last year's Duke team could have been better with a stronger OL. OFC

 

[surfdevil]

FYI with yesterday being the last day to declare for the NFL draft we got some very good news with Graham Barton not declaring.

 

[Devilinside]

Or with the offensive line that Elko put together. I recall vividly Daniel running for his life repeatedly. Of course, that did prepare him for his first 3 years with the Giants.

And imagine if DJ had had at least one real quality WR and TE. OFC

 

[ConorONeill]

A couple of items ...

Duke's home game against Notre Dame will be Sept. 30. (ND announced its schedule today; still not the schedule news I wanted to drop last week.)

This ACC transfer portal report is a good summation of key guys every team has picked up and lost, and has summations on each school.

 

[surfdevil]

Yeah i am still looking forward to that labor day info myself. i like that we get ND the week after ohio state beats them up

 

[ConorONeill]

Big staff news -- Robb Smith has left the program.

Duke has already zeroed in on his replacement.

 

[ConorONeill]

That story is updated with a quote from Elko.