Welcome to Duke Darian Mensah !

After reading the article really impressed. Cutcliffe talked about winning championships but did any of us diehard fans believe him? Manny is putting a team together to do that. No reason Duke can’t be better than SMU and they’re in the playoffs. Also no reason for Manny to look for greener pastures. Before this is over the BIG may be begging us to join. And no, I’m not smoking anything right now. Just super excited that Duke is all in on being the best it can be in all areas, including football.
 
TheDevilMadeMeDoIt said:
After reading the article really impressed. Cutcliffe talked about winning championships but did any of us diehard fans believe him? Manny is putting a team together to do that. No reason Duke can’t be better than SMU and they’re in the playoffs. Also no reason for Manny to look for greener pastures. Before this is over the BIG may be begging us to join. And no, I’m not smoking anything right now. Just super excited that Duke is all in on being the best it can be in all areas, including football.
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I like the way you think.
 
TheDevilMadeMeDoIt said:
After reading the article really impressed. Cutcliffe talked about winning championships but did any of us diehard fans believe him? Manny is putting a team together to do that. No reason Duke can’t be better than SMU and they’re in the playoffs. Also no reason for Manny to look for greener pastures. Before this is over the BIG may be begging us to join. And no, I’m not smoking anything right now. Just super excited that Duke is all in on being the best it can be in all areas, including football.
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Funny you should say that as I was just thinking the other day "why wouldn't the Big 10 want Duke?" Duke is a big brand, great in basketball, excellent in a lot of none revenue sports, and no worse or less resourced in football than many of their current members. I mean Maryland? Let's do it. The current ACC seems pretty meaningless to me at least these days, in terms of tradition, or rivalries or basketball fervor . I guess there's the cheats, but if the price of joining the Big 10 was having them tag along, I guess I'd allow it.
 
rocketeli said:
Funny you should say that as I was just thinking the other day "why wouldn't the Big 10 want Duke?" Duke is a big brand, great in basketball, excellent in a lot of none revenue sports, and no worse or less resourced in football than many of their current members. I mean Maryland? Let's do it. The current ACC seems pretty meaningless to me at least these days, in terms of tradition, or rivalries or basketball fervor . I guess there's the cheats, but if the price of joining the Big 10 was having them tag along, I guess I'd allow it
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Going back to dealing with Maryland fans and adding OSU...oof.
 
It could be that Manny Diaz is doing exactly what Jon Scheyer did last year — upgrade the roster. Mark Mitchell was good but Maliq Brown is better. Murphy was good, but it looks look Diaz believes Mensah is better. It is amazing to see Duke investing the resources to move toward football excellence.
 
BlueDevilC said:
It could be that Manny Diaz is doing exactly what Jon Scheyer did last year — upgrade the roster. Mark Mitchell was good but Maliq Brown is better. Murphy was good, but it looks look Diaz believes Mensah is better. It is amazing to see Duke investing the resources to move toward football excellence.
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I don't know anything about football, but this article ranks Murphy #1 and Mensah #4 among portal QBs.


Would Diaz really not have retained Murphy, had Murphy wanted to play for Duke next season?
 
Edouble said:
I don't know anything about football, but this article ranks Murphy #1 and Mensah #4 among portal QBs.


Would Diaz really not have retained Murphy, had Murphy wanted to play for Duke next season?
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Here's one from ESPN dropping Murphy all the way to ninth, while Mensa is first. (It's paywalled but here's the important part.)
Scout's take: Mensah reminds us of former Cincinnati passer Desmond Ridder. Mensah is poised, composed and extremely accurate. He has good -- not elite -- arm strength, and his ball placement and ability to change speeds to suit the throw is impressive. He's a good runner as well. -- Luginbill

What he brings to Duke: The Blue Devils went 9-3 in coach Manny Diaz's debut season with Texas transfer Maalik Murphy at quarterback. Moving on from Murphy and shoving all-in on Mensah makes a pretty serious statement about Diaz's ambitions to contend in the ACC in 2025. Mensah told ESPN he was drawn to Duke's academic prestige and the pieces already in place to win big next season. Mensah probably could've gone just about anywhere but preferred a quick recruitment and committed on his first visit. He's trusting that Diaz and OC Jonathan Brewer can take his game to the next level.
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And for Murphy
Scout's take: Murphy checks all the physical boxes. He's big with a strong arm and showed good productivity this past season. While he can drive the ball downfield, accuracy has been his issue on intermediate and deep routes. He is a streaky player. When he's on, this is a good Power 4 quarterback, when he's not, he can lose you games. -- Luginbill
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www.espn.com

Ranking the top 20 QBs in the transfer portal: Who's the best available?

The college football transfer portal is open, and several top quarterbacks are looking for new schools. Here are the best available.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
Edouble said:
I don't know anything about football, but this article ranks Murphy #1 and Mensah #4 among portal QBs.


Would Diaz really not have retained Murphy, had Murphy wanted to play for Duke next season?
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We really don’t know and probably won’t and shouldn’t. In any case, FWIW I don’t trust 247’s rankings. ESPN has Mensah #1 of all portal players and MM #37. https://www.espn.com/college-footba...rtal-player-rankings-scouting-reports-overall
Mensah’s passing stats are at least as impressive as MM’s, and he can run a bit.
 
TheDevilMadeMeDoIt said:
After reading the article really impressed. Cutcliffe talked about winning championships but did any of us diehard fans believe him? Manny is putting a team together to do that. No reason Duke can’t be better than SMU and they’re in the playoffs. Also no reason for Manny to look for greener pastures. Before this is over the BIG may be begging us to join. And no, I’m not smoking anything right now. Just super excited that Duke is all in on being the best it can be in all areas, including football.
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We need more than a couple of billionaires who care a whole lot about football, but otherwise, yes. The other advantage SMU has is recruiting territory; DFW >>>> The Triangle and Texas >> North Carolina, but if Duke can be enough of a national brand in football, that disadvantage can be minimized.
 
Edouble said:
I don't know anything about football, but this article ranks Murphy #1 and Mensah #4 among portal QBs.


Would Diaz really not have retained Murphy, had Murphy wanted to play for Duke next season?
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I don't honestly know. But it greatly relieves my mind that Mensah has no qualms about running past the line of scrimmage. And it is reported that he knows how to change from a fastball when the pass requires it.
 
I'm not going to put it here, but there is a wild NIL number floating out there. I honestly didn't think Duke could compete at that level of NIL.
 
Edouble said:
I don't know anything about football, but this article ranks Murphy #1 and Mensah #4 among portal QBs.


Would Diaz really not have retained Murphy, had Murphy wanted to play for Duke next season?
Click to expand...
Portal evaluations are all over the place, with far less consensus between the services than with high school recruits. ESPN has Mensah as the top player overall currently in the portal; 247 has him down in the 40s. Given that Murphy is gone and Mensah has already committed, it sure looks like this is a result Manny was planning for and wanted. From the outside, this doesn't look like a situation where Duke was scrambling for a replacement after being unable to retain Murphy.
 
crote said:
Portal evaluations are all over the place, with far less consensus between the services than with high school recruits. ESPN has Mensah as the top player overall currently in the portal; 247 has him down in the 40s. Given that Murphy is gone and Mensah has already committed, it sure looks like this is a result Manny was planning for and wanted. From the outside, this doesn't look like a situation where Duke was scrambling for a replacement after being unable to retain Murphy.
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#1 portal player vs #40 for Mensah? Either ESPN or 247 are way the f off with their evaluations! Btw On3 has Maalik as the 66th best portal player. Are they picking these #’s out of a hat?!
 
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