Lucas Patrick is a 6’4” 285 pound senior offensive lineman from Brentwood, Tennessee who committed to the Blue Devils back in May. He checked in with BDN this week to update Duke fans on his senior year and his commitment.

“We’ve had a great start and are 5-2. We’ve beaten everyone in our district and we have a tough 3 game stretch coming up,” he told BDN. “The team is really coming together and it’s been really great so far.”

As one of the top ten college prospects in the state of Tennessee, Lucas has anchored the offensive line for the Bruins, even filling in at center for an injured teammate. “I feel like I’ve really improved at everything,” he said as he gave BDN a midseason evaluation of his personal performance. “My versatility is better; I filled in at center when a guy went down and ended up grading out at 94% for that game. I’ve been consistently in the 90s most of this year.” He was named the BancorpSouth Player of the Week for his efforts at center in Brentwood’s 42-0 Homecoming win over Gallatin. Lucas added that he may start at center again next week against Hillsboro due to injury, and with the graduation of senior Bryan Morgan, don’t be surprised if he takes some snaps at center during 2011 training camp at Duke.

Despite the 1-4 start, Lucas has really liked what he’s seen from the Blue Devils so far in 2010, and was even able to take in the week 2 game at Wake Forest. “My sister goes to Wake Forest, so I was actually able to see that game, which was a great game to watch,” he explained. “Duke never gave up and they showed they’re a tough team. I was then able to watch the Alabama game on TV and saw the same thing. They never stopped fighting, which was really cool to watch.” Lucas has kept in close contact with the Duke coaches, most notably Coach Luke, Coach Hardegree, and Coach Roper through phone calls and emails.

One of the factors that originally impressed Lucas about Duke was his comfort level with the Duke players and coaches, and that has continued to grow after his commitment. “I keep in touch with the other offensive line commits – Matt Skura, Carson Ginn, Marcus Aprahamian, and Cody Robinson,” he told BDN. “It’s really cool that we already have an early friendship. I’ve also stayed in touch with [Duke freshman lineman] Dave Harding.”

Lucas plans to take a visit to Duke next weekend for the Miami game with his family, and confirmed that his only visits this fall will be to Duke. The Blue Devil Nation can look forward to seeing Lucas graduate in the spring and join the Duke program in the summer of 2011 as part of an impressive offensive line class for Coach Cutcliffe.