There seems to be an emerging consensus that Mark Gilbert will be a high draft pick in the 2019 NFL draft, following his true junior year.
Early entries. A problem Duke football has heretofore not had to deal with on a regular basis.
While selfishly I would like to keep all these guys for their full eligibility, this is definitely a great problem to have. If Gilbert and Jones both go pro after this season, that is probably an indication that the season was successful (I do kind of hope Jones does not leave, because I'm not sure we are ready to replace him). Getting a good base of guys playing meaningful roles (legit starters or at least significant contributors) in the NFL would also do wonders for our recruiting.
Looking to see what our current NFL roster looks like, I am surprised Juwan Thompson hasn't caught back on again, I thought he did quite well for himself in Denver. Kenny Anunike could have been a really good NFL DE if not for the injuries. I was really surprised when I looked at his career/season sack totals at Duke, it felt like he was in the backfield an awful lot more than that. The times he got there were certainly memorable.
Nice article by the NCAA on their ncaa.org site on Brittain Brown: https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/a...hance-starting. Nothing too crazy, but nice to see him get some publicity on the NCAA site.
Here's a nice update from the N&O's Steve Wiseman on McDuffie's recovery from injury and where he fits into the defense this season: https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/...214630565.html.
Duke redshirt sophomore center Jack Wohlabaugh, who transferred into the Blue Devil football program from Ohio State in January, will be eligible for competition this fall after the NCAA approved a waiver request for immediate eligibility.http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...CLID=211734546Coming out of Walsh Jesuit High School, Wohlabaugh was charted as a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and rated as the No. 4 center in the nation by Scout.com.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Great news!
The three biggest questions for me coming into the season were kicking, WRs, and the O line. Parker's reinstatement helps with the first; a new position coach hopefully helps with the second; and this surely helps with the third.
If we stay healthy, could be a banner year.
Great news but I wish he played tackle.
"This is the best of all possible worlds."
Dr. Pangloss - Candide
This is reasonably common when eligibility rules are changed (guys who just missed qualifying under the new rules by days/weeks/months will appeal that they would be eligible under the new rules and frequently win). Honestly, I'm not sure why they don't just make any such changes applicable to any current players whenever they make such a change rather than largely rubber stamping appeals.
Amazing that with Jeremy Cash we get 2 highly recruited transfers from Ohio State in the last 5 years or so, especially given that Duke didn't recruit them in the first place.
Dave Harding takes a look at Brittain Brown's 34 yard TD run against Baylor in this week's The Breakdown:
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...DB_OEM_ID=4200
Dave highlights both Brown's physical running and a key block by TE Daniel Helm. Good stuff!The Blue Devils and Bears were deadlocked at 7-7 before Brown ripped off a 34-yard march to the end zone. Brown took a first-and-10 handoff and scored his second career touchdown.
Bob Green
Both were tremendous plays. This run really highlights Brown's talent. In addition to being physical and breaking a tackle, the jump cut he made at the line showed his vision and instincts (and ability to maintain his speed and owner). As mentioned, great block by Helm.
CBS Sports initial 2019 Mock Draft has Gilbert going #17 and Giles-Harris at #31... both of them are seen by CBS as first rounders. As many have noted, if he has a good year Jones could be in the first round discussion as well.
If this is the price of success for Duke football, I'll take it. I hope all three of them go in the first round in 2019 as it likely means Duke had a really nice season.
-Jason "being seen as a school that will produce pros helps in recruiting too, no question about that" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Just so I'm clear, people seem to be throwing around the idea that Daniel Jones could be a first round selection if he has a good year. OK, so now stepping out of theory and into the real world. Using this past draft as a rough estimator, 5 QBs were selected in the first round. Are people really thinking that there is a reasonable chance that Daniel Jones is one of the 5 best QBs in the country next year? That strikes me as exceeeeeeeeeeeeeedingly optimistic.
Heck, I'd take top-20.
- Chillin