Before the Blue Devils took the practice field at 5:15 yesterday evening, Coach David Cutcliffe and a number of Duke football players met with the media. These are often times for standard answers to repetitive questions, but there were some interesting tidbits to come out of these interviews.
Position Changes
Keilin Rayner will make the move from linebacker to nose guard. While Rayner was recruited as a linebacker, he is an incredible physical specimen for his age. With the recent injury to starting Nose Guard Jamal Bruce, Duke’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme, and Duke’s depth at defensive end Nose Guard is the one spot on defense where Rayner will be able to get immediate playing time. Whether or not he will redshirt this season, Rayner has clearly been putting in work to gain weight as he is now up to 265 pounds (he’s listed at 255 on the roster.) That would be a giant linebacker (he would outweigh the current heaviest LB on the roster Austin Gamble by 20 pounds) and Rayner played a lot with his hand on the ground in high school. To get an idea of the strength Rayner brings to the Blue Devils, here he is benching 405 lbs six months ago while he was still in high school.
Jamal Wallace will also move to the interior of the defensive line, sliding over from Defensive End to Defensive Tackle. On the preseason depth chart, Wallace was slotted as the backup to Justin Foxx at Left Defensive End, which likely means that either Mario Sanders will move up or one of the guys slotted to play Right Defensive End behind Kenny Anunike (Dezmond Johnson, Lucas Fisher or Jonathan Woodruff) will move over. Unfortunately, Jordan Dewalt-Ondijo is still injured and there is no timetable for his return. Wallace is big for a defensive end (6’4″ 275) and will help bolster a depleted defensive interior.
Desmond Scott moves from running back to wide receiver in a move that was reported earlier this offseason. Scott was Duke’s best pass-catcher out of the backfield last season and will help stem the losses of Blair Holliday (brain injury) and Brandon Braxton (moved to safety). Other than Conner Vernon, the rest of Duke’s wide receiving corps had a total of 15 catches last season. Scott himself caught 25 for 135 yards, in just 9 games. New Duke beat reporter for the News and Observer Laura Keeley has a good interview up with Scott from today’s media day: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/dukenow/new-season-brings-a-new-position-for-desmond-scott
“Coach (Kurt) Roper said, ‘you’re no longer a running back, you play wide receiver,’ and that was that,” said Scott, adding that he had worked a bit at the position in the spring. “No reluctance at all. I embraced it with open arms. I played it in high school. Of course there’s a difference between playing in high school and playing in college, but with this move, goals that I have are so much closer.”
Brandon Connette is slotted as the 3rd string quarterback on the depth chart has been working as wide receiver and will be used in multiple positions. Cutcliffe has mentioned in previous interviews that Duke could see three QBs on the field simultaneously this season.
Injuries
Kelby Brown, Jamal Bruce, Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo and Lucas Patrick are all out and there is no timetable set for their return.
Transfers
Jeremy Cash Duke is waiting to hear back from the NCAA on a waiver request to allow Ohio State Safety transfer Jeremy Cash to play immediately due to the sanctions imposed on the Buckeyes. There is not much reason for optimism here, but if Cash were able to contribute this season, he would be part of what Cutcliffe considers a very strong defensive backfield. He considers Ross Cockrell and Lee Butler the best pair of corners he’s had at Duke. Cutcliffe expects to get an answer from the NCAA this Thursday on Cash’s availability.
Here is the press conference in its entirety as well as interviews with Laken Tomlinson, Walt Canty, Desmond Scott and Sydney Sarmiento.
Cutcliffe Press Conference
Laken Tomlinson
Desmond Scott
Sydney Sarmiento
Walt Canty
