Tanner Stone out for season

[jimsumner]

Cut told the media today that Stone injured an ankle yesterday and will undergo season-ending surgery tomorrow. Stone is an offensive tackle who was expected to contribute this season as a redshirt freshman. Duke is really high on Stone.

[roywhite]

Cut told the media today that Stone injured an ankle yesterday and will undergo season-ending surgery tomorrow. Stone is an offensive tackle who was expected to contribute this season as a redshirt freshman. Duke is really high on Stone.

Ah, autumn approaches and the Duke Football MASH Unit cranks up.

One tradition we'd love to see the end of.

Hang in there, Tanner.

[Bob Green]

Very unfortunate situation for the young man. Here is a link to the press conference:

http://www.goduke.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?&db_oem_id=4200&id=2965405

[loran16]

Call me a cynic, but this is yet another reason why I'm skeptical of reasons that the team will be better based upon "well everyone's healthy now!"

This won't be the last guy out like this.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

This won't be the last guy out like this.

Preseason negativism will not be tolerated! :mad: Please have a beverage of your choice and readjust your attitude! :cool:

[mkline09]

I think many should remember it is football and injuries are going to happen. These guys are so much bigger, faster and stronger than when some of us may have played in high school or even college. And this sounds like a freak thing. It happens though sadly it has happened more than we all care for at Duke. Duke though has managed to get more depth but still will struggle when they lose a guy to injury. Hopefully this will be the extent of the season ending injuries for a while.

[Newton_14]

Preseason negativism will not be tolerated! :mad: Please have a beverage of your choice and readjust your attitude! :cool:


Not possible for Loran. He has never had a good day it seems. :) Duke FB could go 14-0 with ACC and National Title and Loran would insist the defense sucked and cost the team from having a better year. :)


Humor aside, can we at least limit the season ending injuries to just 1 or 2 this year? Is that asking too much?

[chrishoke]

Two star recruit who redshirted last year - I hate It for Tanner, but not a big loss.

[OldPhiKap]

Best of luck for a quick recovery and a strong return. Thanks for committing to Duke and all of the work you have put in. Look forward to seeing you on the field for several years still to come.

[jafarr1]

Two star recruit who redshirted last year - I hate It for Tanner, but not a big loss.

The two most impressive freshmen in camp this year (Borders, R. Smith) are two-star recruits.

Don't let Stone's rating fool you; the staff is really high on him and planned to get him a decent number of snaps. So while this isn't as critical as certain injuries would be, this one does sting some.

[Indoor66]

Two star recruit who redshirted last year - I hate It for Tanner, but not a big loss.

Depth, depth, depth. Depth is what kills Duke and this injury does not help. It takes YEARS to develop quality depth and we need everyone health because we have not reached the point of quality depth that the big boys have.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The two most impressive freshmen in camp this year (Borders, R. Smith) are two-star recruits.

Don't let Stone's rating fool you; the staff is really high on him and planned to get him a decent number of snaps. So while this isn't as critical as certain injuries would be, this one does sting some.
The Duke coaches have done a great job identifying talent that others don't see. Yes, we'd love there to be more 4 star guys coming in, but as Jafarr points out, the guys who create the most noise in camps might not be the ones you'd expect. Remember Cooper Helfet? That guy was a 2 star recruit, one of many Duke has had. We got him out of juco as a transfer, but since he was a two star, that means he wasn't going to be much, right? I remember loving him being in the game. I wonder what he's doing now....
(He's in the NFL)
Other two stars we have that I want on the field every game....
Isaac Blakeney
Perry Simmons
Will Monday
Kyler Brown
There are others, and like Kyler, not all start, but they are important to have as an option to come in.

[jimsumner]

Two star recruit who redshirted last year - I hate It for Tanner, but not a big loss.

A textbook example of the flaws in the star-based rating system. Stone impressed everyone last season in practice. Cut's eyes would light up at the mention of Stone. More than a few of his teammates mentioned his toughness. Plays with an edge, has a mean streak, wants to dominate, that sort of thing, largely unsolicited comments. By all accounts he worked his derriere off this summer and was projected to play major snaps as a redshirt freshman at offensive line, which is not a given.

And, of course, he will come back next season as a redshirt sophomore, three years removed from playing in an actual football game.

So, I would characterize this as a significant loss. It presents an opportunity for Ginn and/or Blaser to step it up. But until a couple of days ago, Stone was a better football player than either.

[TheTrain]

The two most impressive freshmen in camp this year (Borders, R. Smith) are two-star recruits.

Don't let Stone's rating fool you; the staff is really high on him and planned to get him a decent number of snaps. So while this isn't as critical as certain injuries would be, this one does sting some.

Ryan Smith was a 3-star recruit on Rivals.

[Bob Green]

This won't be the last guy out like this.

How prescient you are. OT Casey Blaser will have surgery tomorrow to fix a broken hand.


Jeff Gravley ‏@jgravleyWRAL 39m

#Duke fball injuries. OT Tanner Stone surgery on broken ankle. OF Casey Blaser will have surgery on broken hand. Sam Marshall moves DL to OT

That's two reserve offensive tackles lost! Insert expletive here!

[mkline09]

How prescient you are. OT Casey Blaser will have surgery tomorrow to fix a broken hand.



That's two reserve offensive tackles lost! Insert expletive here!

Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic or perhaps I'm just old school and remember seeing lineman play with big club-like protuberances back in the day, but I got to believe Blaser will make it back this year.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic or perhaps I'm just old school and remember seeing lineman play with big club-like protuberances back in the day, but I got to believe Blaser will make it back this year.
Playing with a cast reduces your chance of being called for holding by 50%. :D

[loran16]

Not possible for Loran. He has never had a good day it seems. :) Duke FB could go 14-0 with ACC and National Title and Loran would insist the defense sucked and cost the team from having a better year. :)

If the team can do this, I promise to make this happen.

[Olympic Fan]

Depth, depth, depth. Depth is what kills Duke and this injury does not help. It takes YEARS to develop quality depth and we need everyone health because we have not reached the point of quality depth that the big boys have.

While this injury hurts -- two-star or not, Tanner Stone was a guy the Duke staff was excited about -- Duke DOES have excellent depth on the offensive line. It's probably the most impressive thing about Cut's tenure -- how he's built a deep, talented offensive line. Not many of the "big boys" actually have as much depth as Duke did coming into this year.

So far, the starting line is untouched -- the two starting tackles are fifth-year senior Perry Simmons with 37 career starts to his credit. The other is fourth-year junior Tacoby Cofield with 15 career starts. The starting guards are fifth-year senior David Harding with 27 career starts and fourth-year junior Laken Tomlinson with 25 career starts. Only the center --Matt Skura -- is not a returning starter. He's a third-year sophomore with a lot of promise (he as on Ohio State's recruiting radar before he made a very early commitment to Duke). But backing Skura up is fifth-year senior John Coleman, who has nine career starts to his credit -- mostly at tackle.

The depth comes when you look at the second team. Coleman has been good enough to start. The backup guards are two third-year sophs who have played and played well. There are those who think Lucas Patrick would be a starter today if he had not been hurt before last season. And Cody Robinson is a 300-pounder who was great last spring and is the strongesr lineman in the history of Duke football (his power lift is the school record). And behind those two is another third-year sophomore with a lot of talent -- 300-pound Marcus Aprahamian (who was rated the No. 1 OL prospect and No. 8 overall prospect out of the state of Wisconsin two years ago). I know that the plan was for two centers and five guards to see significant action this year.

The depth at tackle was really hurt by the loss of Stone and Blaser. I know than Sam Marshall has been moved over from the DL, but what impresses me is how versatile some of our other line guys are -- Coleman has started at tackle; Harding has started at center; Patrick and Aprahamian have both played tackle in games.

Right now, Duke has nine solid OL players -- not counting Marshall, Carson Ginn (a third-year soph with size and some potential, but who has not demonstrated that he's ready to play) or any of the frosh. In today's college game, that's as much OL depth as almost anybody.

To be fair, there are other places we aren't as deep, but the offensive line is solid -- even with the two injuries this week.

PS EVERY offensive line prospect under Cut has redshirt as a freshman. I don't expect that to change, even though the staff thinks freshman C Austin Davis, a 290-pound Texan has star potential. There are also two freshmen tackles who have great frames and good skills, but need to add weight and strength -- 6-6, 255 Gabe Brander and 6-7, 260 Sterling Korona (another Texan)