FB: Quansah breaks thumb; out indefinitely

[jimsumner]

From Duke press release.

Duke senior linebacker Koby Quansah underwent surgery Friday to stabilize a fractured right thumb suffered in practice on Thursday. He will be out of action indefinitely.

The procedure was performed by Dr. David Ruch.

[Bob Green]

Not the news I desire to read but as the old saying goes bad news does not improve with age so thanks for sharing. Hopefully, Quansah will be back 100% healthy no later than the game against Virginia Tech.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Put a cast on him and throw him on the field.

50% less likely to be called for holding!

[OldPhiKap]

Get well soon!

[UrinalCake]

I guess we can say that the team is progressing ahead of schedule compared to last year.

[MCFinARL]

I guess we can say that the team is progressing ahead of schedule compared to last year.

Well, yes, they are getting injured earlier. But I assume that is what you meant. I guess that is a kind of progress.

[jimsumner]

Where does this leave Duke?

Brandon Hill is healthy and played a lot last season. And Shaka Heyward is going to be a good one, maybe a great one. But he's a redshirt freshman.

Still, Heyward and Hill should be a solid starting tandem should Duke elect to go that route.

But after that, we have lots of question marks. Redshirt junior Xander Gagnon saw the field a lot last year with the injuries to Giles-Harris and Humphreys. I don't think he'll hurt Duke when he's on the field but he's probably a place holder.

Jacob Morgenstern was more highly-ranked than Gagnon out of high school but hasn't played much. Rocky Shelton is also a redshirt freshman but has not impressed as much as Heyward. He probably has a higher ceiling than Gagnon or Morgenstern but may not be ready for prime time right now. Sayyid Stevens is the only recruited true freshman LB. He's the least likely of the group to see the field right now.

Hopefully, this won't be a long-term injury. Should the injury linger, it again raises the question of whether 225-pound DE Chris Rumph might move to LB. He's played there some when Duke was using three LBs against option teams but other than that Duke has resisted moving him.

The other option would be to move a safety to linebacker. Probably not one of the presumptive starters-Singleton, Carter, Waters--and none of the backups are any bigger than Lummie Young, at 6-1, 210. But Duke moved Dwayne Norman from safety to LB for his senior year and he wasn't much bigger than that and he made All-ACC.

Hopefully, find out more Tuesday. But Quansah has worked really hard for this opportunity, was named a co-captain yesterday and this is a really bad break for him, in multiple senses of the word.

[Faison1]

But after that, we have lots of question marks. Redshirt junior Xander Gagnon saw the field a lot last year with the injuries to Giles-Harris and Humphreys. I don't think he'll hurt Duke when he's on the field but he's probably a place holder.

Apologies for hijacking the thread, Jim, but perhaps you can give some insight now that we're 8 months past his decision. Looking back on it, do you know if the Giles-Harris camp regrets leaving early? I haven't followed whether he's made a team as a free-agent.

I would have to guess our D would be pretty stout with him in the lineup.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

To my eye, Xander Gagnon is simply not P5 caliber, does not have P5 speed...let alone Alabama speed. Would love for him to prove me wrong...I just don't see it.

[budwom]

Regrettably I do fear that Gagnon just isn't up to it at LB, he hurt us there when he played last year...would be nice if he could prove me wrong, but unless he got a lot faster, he's just not ACC caliber.

Rumph would be a great addition, though that might require some shufflage as he's not a MLB (insofar as there can be a middle linebacker when you only have two, but hey, Cut says you can)..but he belongs on the field...

I definitely think we'll be seeing a bunch of redshirt frosh Heyward and quite possibly Shelton, both of whom are talented.

HA, just noted HereBeforeCoachK beat me to it (re: Gagnon) while I was typing...

[CameronBornAndBred]

Apologies for hijacking the thread, Jim, but perhaps you can give some insight now that we're 8 months past his decision. Looking back on it, do you know if the Giles-Harris camp regrets leaving early? I haven't followed whether he's made a team as a free-agent.

I would have to guess our D would be pretty stout with him in the lineup.

Per the power of Google...

8.Giles-Harris is having a good camp. Joe Giles-Harris, a rookie linebacker from Duke who signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent after being projected as a late-round draft selection, started Thursday. He drew praise from Marrone last week and again after tying for the team lead with four tackles Thursday. “He’s an undrafted free agent that’s really been having a good camp who plays multiple positions; really smart kid,” Marrone said.

https://www.jaguars.com/news/what-we...-24-jaguars-10

[Faison1]

Per the power of Google...



https://www.jaguars.com/news/what-we...-24-jaguars-10

Ha Ha!! Sorry! I love the old, "Have you heard of Google" line. My bad.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Ha Ha!! Sorry! I love the old, "Have you heard of Google" line. My bad.

Not at all, I kind have had put him off my radar, and your post was a reminder. Haven't heard anyone on the board talk about him mixed in with all of our offense guys that we are getting updates on. Cool to see that GJH is making an impression. Box score of last week's game show him with three tackles, so he's making noise.

[Bob Green]

The other option would be to move a safety to linebacker. Probably not one of the presumptive starters-Singleton, Carter, Waters--and none of the backups are any bigger than Lummie Young, at 6-1, 210. But Duke moved Dwayne Norman from safety to LB for his senior year and he wasn't much bigger than that and he made All-ACC.

I believe Rumph would be option 1 but my view from the cheap seats in Section 19 sees Lummie Young as a hard hitter who excels against the run so moving him to LB is certainly viable.