Football Recruiting

[lawgrad91]

[CameronBornAndBred]

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[CameronBornAndBred]

Well this is some nice company to have.

Duke's football program is a major player for one of North Carolina's top defenders.

4-star prospect Bryce Davis shared his top three schools to his X account on May 21. In addition to the Blue Devils, Davis is considering the University of Georgia and Clemson University.

https://www.highschoolot.com/story/duke ... /21457476/

[Bob Green]

Javin Gordon a 5’10” 200 lb running back from Georgia commits to Duke. Class of 2025.

[OPK]

This should be an interesting year, I’m starting to get excited.

[devildeac]

This should be an interesting year, I’m starting to get excited.

Time for you and Bob to start predicting our 2024 record?

[OPK]

This should be an interesting year, I’m starting to get excited.

Time for you and Bob to start predicting our 2024 record?

Not sure about our record, but I predict that we win our bowl game.

[Bob Green]

This should be an interesting year, I’m starting to get excited.

Time for you and Bob to start predicting our 2024 record?

Not sure about our record, but I predict that we win our bowl game.

I like how you think.

[devildeac]

Time for you and Bob to start predicting our 2024 record?

Not sure about our record, but I predict that we win our bowl game.

I like how you think.

I'll start:

Elon-W
NU-W
UCon-W
MT-W
Cheats-L (*the focking, dishonest acc refs will screw us out of a win for the 3rd year in a row)
GT-W
Eff$U-L
SMU-W
UM-L
NCSU-L
VT-L
WFU-W

Bowl-W

This is pure WAG after our first 4 games.

[Bob Green]

I remain concerned about the OL and DL. Picking up a few more players in the portal would be nice. Daryl’s 8-5 prediction is certainly reasonable especially seeing as our schedule is easier (on paper) than last season.

It’s a little early for me to comfortably post a prediction so I reserve the right to change my mind but I’m going with 8-4 regular season but we lose our bowl game.

The four regular season losses: Carolina, FSU, Miami, NCSU

[devildeac]

I remain concerned about the OL and DL. Picking up a few more players in the portal would be nice. Daryl’s 8-5 prediction is certainly reasonable especially seeing as our schedule is easier (on paper) than last season.

It’s a little early for me to comfortably post a prediction so I reserve the right to change my mind but I’m going with 8-4 regular season but we lose our bowl game.

The four regular season losses: Carolina, FSU, Miami, NCSU

Your regular season prediction makes sense, too, in addition to the bowl loss as we'd likely get a better/tougher bowl foe at 8-4 than we would at 7-5.

[OPK]

I remain concerned about the OL and DL. Picking up a few more players in the portal would be nice. Daryl’s 8-5 prediction is certainly reasonable especially seeing as our schedule is easier (on paper) than last season.

It’s a little early for me to comfortably post a prediction so I reserve the right to change my mind but I’m going with 8-4 regular season but we lose our bowl game.

The four regular season losses: Carolina, FSU, Miami, NCSU

Your regular season prediction makes sense, too, in addition to the bowl loss as we'd likely get a better/tougher bowl foe at 8-4 than we would at 7-5.

Either way would be an 8-5 finish. I’d take that every day, twice on Sunday.

I’ll go ahead and predict the Military Bowl. You can thank me later.

[CameronBornAndBred]

ESPN gives a look at the top 40 recruiting classes of '25 in this paywalled "Plus" article, but I don't think they'll mind me sharing what they say about our barely in Duke Blue Devils. Previously #35, they are 37th for this writeup. By the way, Midnite Mike's team is 6th.

37. Duke Blue Devils
ESPN 300: 1

Top offensive prospect: WR Gerritt Kemp

Top defensive prospect: LB Cameron Smith

Previous ranking: 35

Mike Elko wasted little time identifying talent and building the Blue Devils' class while he was there. New coach Manny Diaz seems to be taking the same approach. The defensive-minded Diaz landed linebacker Cameron Smith, who he knew dating back to his time as Penn State's defensive coordinator. Smith is an explosive, physical linebacker who can be a productive playmaker.

Defensive lineman Sampson Onuoha was a nice pickup out of Massachusetts. The defender has good burst off the ball, displays good flexibility and active hands. Julius Columbus is another good addition to their defensive line unit. He is excellent with his hands and can quickly press and shed blockers and develop into an active run defender. On offense, Duke added a pair of high three-star wide receivers out of Georgia in Gerritt Kemp and Jaivon Solomon. The latter is a smooth strider with good vertical speed and can track the ball well.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/r ... ms-schools

[OPK]

ESPN gives a look at the top 40 recruiting classes of '25 in this paywalled "Plus" article, but I don't think they'll mind me sharing what they say about our barely in Duke Blue Devils. Previously #35, they are 37th for this writeup. By the way, Midnite Mike's team is 6th.

37. Duke Blue Devils
ESPN 300: 1

Top offensive prospect: WR Gerritt Kemp

Top defensive prospect: LB Cameron Smith

Previous ranking: 35

Mike Elko wasted little time identifying talent and building the Blue Devils' class while he was there. New coach Manny Diaz seems to be taking the same approach. The defensive-minded Diaz landed linebacker Cameron Smith, who he knew dating back to his time as Penn State's defensive coordinator. Smith is an explosive, physical linebacker who can be a productive playmaker.

Defensive lineman Sampson Onuoha was a nice pickup out of Massachusetts. The defender has good burst off the ball, displays good flexibility and active hands. Julius Columbus is another good addition to their defensive line unit. He is excellent with his hands and can quickly press and shed blockers and develop into an active run defender. On offense, Duke added a pair of high three-star wide receivers out of Georgia in Gerritt Kemp and Jaivon Solomon. The latter is a smooth strider with good vertical speed and can track the ball well.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/r ... ms-schools

Please please please please please let us have a good O-line!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Please please please please please let us have a good O-line!

And please please please please please let's not have to wait until '25 for it!

[Bob Green]

Please please please please please let us have a good O-line!

I’m mostly in the dark on quality but at least roster quantity has been built. There are 18 OL listed.

[devildeac]

Please please please please please let us have a good O-line!

I’m mostly in the dark on quality but at least roster quantity has been built. There are 18 OL listed.

It appears many bulletin board readers are in the dark about our OL quality and are trusting Manny and his offensive coordinator and OL coaches to work them into their system.

[OPK]

Not sure which home game(s) I’m attending yet. It looks like I will be @ GT. My Roll Tide daughter is passing up an Alabama game to come watch Duke with dear old dad.

Admission: priceless.

[devildeac]

Not sure which home game(s) I’m attending yet. It looks like I will be @ GT. My Roll Tide daughter is passing up an Alabama game to come watch Duke with dear old dad.

Admission: priceless.

Plus, you'll be able to contract dysentary and/or cholera from your pre-game meal at The Varsity.

[Bob Green]

18 offensive lineman:

- Two returning starters in Brian Parker and Justin Pickett
- One (Matt Craycraft) who started one game and has played 200 snaps
- Eight graduate transfers
- Four true freshman - two of the four are rated 79 by ESPN. That is one point away from being four stars
- Three who were on the roster last year but saw no game action

Of the eight graduate transfers, Bruno Fina stands out. He started 13 games at left tackle for UCLA last season. Micah Sahakian, from Cornell, is two time All Ivy League with 19 starts and over 1,600 snaps played. There is a transfer from Stanford and one from Northwestern as well. I remember reading that one of them is recovering from surgery but I don’t know which one. More reading required.

It seems like the pieces are in place so it is up to the coaching staff to put them together and coach them up.