This is a question that Conor probably needs to answer with his knowledge but now that we are through the scrimmage and the semester is coming to an end do you have any idea on transfer portal kids that will be leaving? I count us at 89 schollies still so at least 4 need to leave just to get to 85 and maybe 1 or 2 more to fill holes in the roster. That is the nature of the "business" side of college football unfortunately.
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- Thread starter surfdevil
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We truly cannot surf, great point. I can remember some REALLY LOW MORALE times in the program. What a 180 we've done in such a short time. Cutcliffe admittedly lost the team after the '21 opening loss to Charlotte. Elko & Co are not resting on laurels either, the energy is even STRONGER if anything!!! OFC
Very true, and hopefully Conor has a bead on it. OFC
Elko acknowledged that Duke still has to do some "roster management." I'm not going to speculate on names but I strongly suspect there are multiple guys who will graduate next month, hit the road and look for a soft landing spot elsewhere.
Sounds quite logical. OFC
Just watched Coach Elko's presser. Positivity just exudes from that guy. Could not help but carry over to the players, who no doubt recognize their good fortune in getting to play for him. Elko's analyzing, organization, communication, and critiquing skills are great, in really stark contrast to Cutt. I could have watched that press conference for 3 or more hours. Cannot wait for the next one.
OFC
FYI if you want to watch the game it is on you tube. duke spring game 2023
Reaaaaallllllyyyyy looking forward to this year!
Know EXACTLY what you mean DI. Coach Elko brings an energy and knowledge to the game 2nd to NONE!!
OFC
Sorry for missing this until now -- came here to post about such a thing.
Eric Weatherly has entered the portal. Writing has been on the wall here with a position change (RB to WR). And honestly, he's an explosive athlete, but just too small and has too many people in front of him (at both positions) to make an impact.
I'm not going to speculate on specific names who will leave, but @jimlsumner put it perfectly: Elko knows there's roster management to be done. It's the business side of things and it's still the cost of a coaching change that some of the older players will need to graduate and move elsewhere.
The transfer portal is only open until April 30 but there's an important distinction: That's only for undergrad transfers. So that's why Weatherly has to enter now and other undergrads would have to enter this week. But guys getting degrees (or who already have degrees) can enter after the deadline.
Surf, Aeneas Peebles should be your favorite player!
Heard that his number switch (from 92 to 16) was driven by a slight from our rankings. We had him as the No. 16 player in the state for the 2020 class.
(As a reminder and disclaimer: I have zero input on our rankings and wasn't even working for Rivals until August of 2021.)
Slippery slope with assumptions but maybe fair.
I think the safer assumption is Jacob Monk is locked into being this team's center, which isn't a bad thing.
Look at the OL as such: Monk at C, Graham Barton at LT, Maurice McIntyre at LG (I think) -- so the puzzle-solving is on the right side of the line. And there are still a handful of options -- Justin Pickett, Calib Perez, Alex Hornibrook (Stanford) and Dustyn Hall (USF).
And we don't have to wonder whether or not Coach Elko is actually telling the truth or not hiding something as we did with Cut. The man is as transparent as he can safely be. OFC
To my untrained eye, I thought Pickett did a good job last year. I think we're looking for more depth at this point. Unless a stud shows up on the portal.
Pro Football Focus had him graded out at 68.9 overall -- 71.1 run block and 57.4 pass block.
Among Duke OLs who played at least 100 snaps, that overall grade was 4th-best (out of 7).
PFF shouldn't be considered the end-all, be-all, but it's a solid measuring tool for where guys stand. Based on that, Pickett was OK-ish last year. Duke's staff obviously has a lot better feel for not only how effective he was last season, but how much growth was accomplished in the spring and how much better he can be this season.
so i dont know what is happening but dustyn hall to transfer portal. that is volpe, purcell and now hall who transferred in and have transferred out in a few months. HUGE oline depth issues now. conor whats going on?
Three different cases that add up to some concern about OL depth.
- Volpe made it to campus but left within a couple of weeks, never making it to spring practices. All I've got on that one is just that it didn't work out.
- I thought Purcell looked fine in the practices I saw but as a reminder, I'm not a keen evaluator of O-line play. When he entered, was told I shouldn't be too surprised.
- Hall, on the other hand, is a surprise.
It's an unfortunate loss. It's also one that can be softened with an addition through the portal.
I am confident Elko will address the OL depth problem thru the portal. OFC
So these guys who transfer in, but then leave weeks or a month or two later, did they enroll in school? Are they leaving after one semester in school? Or am I terribly outdated to think that the school year matters in football?
Joiner was signed by Houston as an UDFA, and Heyward was signed by Cincinnati as an UDFA as well. I could see both of them sticking, at minimum taxi squad guys. Kudos to both of them!
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I was disappointed that Heyward didn't get drafted. Anyone have a theory why so few Duke guys get drafted while lower level guys do?
Seems like a chicken and egg thing. We need to recruit better athletes if we want to compete with the Big Boys, but the better athletes want to go to schools where their former players are in the NFL. Just the opposite of our basketball team.
Patience, my freind, let's not put the chicken before the egg. Elko has it figured out, and once 4* and 5* see Duke beat some top teams (like Clempsun who we will whip this year), recruiting will take a turn and our players will find their places on draft night. The future is bright. OFC
Duke is the only ACC team without a player drafted this year.
Obviously that's not great, but the silver lining is how many draftable guys are back for next season. The four that immediately come to mind are Graham Barton, Jalon Calhoun, DeWayne Carter and Ja'Mion Franklin; not saying all of them would've been drafted if they'd entered, but confident at least 1 or 2 would have been picked.
Obviously that's not great, but the silver lining is how many draftable guys are back for next season. The four that immediately come to mind are Graham Barton, Jalon Calhoun, DeWayne Carter and Ja'Mion Franklin; not saying all of them would've been drafted if they'd entered, but confident at least 1 or 2 would have been picked.
I'm not sure how much it matters whether you are drafted in the 6th or 7th round or are an undrafted free agent. With my team, the Giants, the team and insiders seem more excited about a free agent they picked up than the last couple guys drafted.
This many departures puts Duke under the scholarship limit and makes them players in transfer portal to add what they need:
It's a shame that Diamont never got much playing time. He seemed like a hard working guy who might not have been athletic enough to find a position that would get him PT.
Liftee I agree. I think he should have probably gotten more PT under Cut at his original position (qb). I saw him in maybe one drive, and he moved the team capably.
Nonetheless he's had injury problems, and would have never challenged Riley. Yet Luca is the type kid you want on a team, and we switched him to WR.
That's a crowded wideouts room for Duke though, and I think Luca is definitely making the right move. Wish him all the best!!! OFC
There is kind of a silver lining to these transfers. They probably would not be leaving if they thought they had a reasonable chance of playing significant minutes. That in turn could mean that they looked at the roster and concluded that they were not of the same ability of the others on the roster and, to a lesser extent, of the transfers and other recruits coming in. So, could be a good sign as to the quality of the team which is staying on.
OFC
austin schull decommits today. truthfully not upset by this. he was a borderline prospect and i wish him well.
Surf, Jiml, and Conor. There must be something about the team that is worth reporting. We are starving for info, no matter how obscure. OFC
Truthfully not much on the commitment front. They are having lots of scheduling of visits right now but since we are swinging at a higher grade of recruits it is slow. They have had (per another sites insider) several players try to commit but they have not been accepted because we are shooting for bigger game right now.
Since I'm not a recruiting guy I probably won't have much football commentary until August.
