2017 Practice and Season

[CameronBornAndBred]

Maybe it's just coach speak, but I love the optimism in Cut's tone here.

"I believe in my heart of hearts, this team is the deepest, most talented team we've had at Duke yet," 10th-year coach David Cutcliffe said. "We are young in certain spots. We have concerns in certain little areas. But I think this team will display what we're capable of being at Duke, and we believe we can compete for championships every year. That's where we had gotten to, and that's where we intend to be."

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke-looks ... /16871015/

Knock on lots of wood, it seems like we are still a healthy team, at least no worse than others. Many exciting things are being said about Jones' improvement from last season, and I thought he was pretty damn good, then, too. Having his seasoned skill set leading the team is going to be a valuable asset this year, and a key to us bowling again.
Six starters back on D, and some new big guys to make names for themselves should lend to the excitement.
I am growing out my nails so I have something to chew on during field goals.

[lawgrad91]

Maybe it's just coach speak, but I love the optimism in Cut's tone here.

"I believe in my heart of hearts, this team is the deepest, most talented team we've had at Duke yet," 10th-year coach David Cutcliffe said. "We are young in certain spots. We have concerns in certain little areas. But I think this team will display what we're capable of being at Duke, and we believe we can compete for championships every year. That's where we had gotten to, and that's where we intend to be."

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke-looks ... /16871015/

Knock on lots of wood, it seems like we are still a healthy team, at least no worse than others. Many exciting things are being said about Jones' improvement from last season, and I thought he was pretty damn good, then, too. Having his seasoned skill set leading the team is going to be a valuable asset this year, and a key to us bowling again.
Six starters back on D, and some new big guys to make names for themselves should lend to the excitement.
I am growing out my nails so I have something to chew on during field goals.

I think we all need to come up with a good luck something for field goals. A mantra, or a given movement, or something. Maybe if we all do it together, it will work.

Hey, I'm Irish. I believe in luck.

[Bob Green]

Dave Harding interviews Daniel Jones:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml? ... EM_ID=4200

How high is DJ's ceiling? I'm looking forward to seeing the sophomore iteration this fall.

[Bob Green]

This Steve Wiseman article is a nice summation of the team:

http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/college ... 28262.html

[Bob Green]

It seems last night's scrimmage was a success. No injuries is the most important piece of news. Here are a couple of tidbits of info:

* True freshmen who impressed include: Josh Blackwell (CB), Marvin Hubbard (RB), Drew Jordan (DE)
* Defensive backs outplayed the wide receivers
* Running game seems solid
* Redshirt freshman wide receiver Scott Bracey played and earned some praise from Coach Cutcliffe

[CameronBornAndBred]

It seems last night's scrimmage was a success. No injuries is the most important piece of news. Here are a couple of tidbits of info:

* True freshmen who impressed include: Josh Blackwell (CB), Marvin Hubbard (RB), Drew Jordan (DE)
* Defensive backs outplayed the wide receivers
* Running game seems solid
* Redshirt freshman wide receiver Scott Bracey played and earned some praise from Coach Cutcliffe

WRAL has a nice summation. Good to see so many younger players spotlighted.

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/freshman-s ... /16876580/

[Bob Green]

There is a post on the Scout free board which states Scott Bracey has looked great when he is on the field. I'm cautiously optimistic Bracey will be the impact player we all expected him to be last season. Duke desperately needs a #1 Receiver who can dominate. Bracey can be that guy. My standards are high so I do not believe T.J. Rahming will ever be a dominant #1 Receiver. He can be a very good #2 Receiver, but we need Bracey to make an impact this year.

Duke has seven or eight guys capable of being very good but we need Bracey to dominate.

[Bob Green]

The team will scrimmage again tonight. The event is closed to the media but I am hoping there will be some sort of post scrimmage coverage at GoDuke. I'm going to Meet the Blue Devils tomorrow so I intend to ask the players how it went.

[Bob Green]

100 snap scrimmage held last night. Brittain Brown with 82 yards rushing and a touchdown. Daniel Jones completed 15 of 22 pass attempts. Chris Taylor and Shaun Wilson with four receptions apiece:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml? ... EM_ID=4200

Coach Cutcliffe video clip:

http://www.goduke.com/mediaPortal/playe ... id=6205270

[Bob Green]

Brittain Brown with 82 yards rushing and a touchdown.

At Meet the Blue Devils, I said to Brown, "Heard you had a good scrimmage." He responded with a lot of enthusiasm telling me how he ran well. It is obvious this guy is more than ready to get on the field and perform.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Tick Tock...

Starting to feel a bit real as we are less than two weeks out.