Category Archives: Duke Football

Duke Football

Duke looking for a playmaker at wide reciever

Johnny Williams has yet to find the end zone, but will be a go to guy for Duke this season.
Johnny Williams has yet to find the end zone in his career, but will be a go to guy for Duke this season.

The Duke Blue Devils kick off their second season under Coach David Cutcliffe when Richmond visits Wallace Wade Stadium this Saturday evening at 7:00.  Duke will look to build on last season's four wins, but to do so will require that playmakers step up at the wide out positions.  Last season the Blue Devils leaned on Eron Riley's steady hands, but his departure opens up a huge void.

One of the players that is expected to fill the void is sophomore Johnny Williams [30 receptions, 327 yards], a speedy wideout .  Williams got his chance last season starting as a true freshman, but despite decent numbers, he didn't taste the end zone a single time.

Williams has been lauded by senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis and is the odds on favorite to become the go to guy, but Duke's offense will most certainly spread the ball around to a solid group of tight ends and running backs.

He will be flanked by another speedster in undersized Donovan Varner.

Varner stands just under 5-9 but he has shown the ability to get open.  Varner caught 22 passes for 164 yards in his first season and he is slated to be the starter on Saturday.

The veteran of the group is junior Austin Kelly [11.7 yards per catch for career] who at 6-2 offers a solid target.  Kelly could be a guy Duke looks to as a possession reciever, which best suits his skill set.

Two true freshman have earned the backup spots to Williams and Varner but there is a good chance one of these kids will make their way into the starting line up by mid season.

Conner Vernon [6-0, 185 freshman] has shined in pre season practices showing that he has consistent hands on the team.  Vernon, a teammate of Varner's at Gulliver Prep in Miami, FL looks like he'll get a lot of time right out of the gate.  Vernon has earned the praise of Cutcliffe for good reason and he'll have a bright future in Durham.

Another freshman, Tyree Watkins [6-1, 195] will see his share of time alongside Vernon.  Watkins is a speedy four year letterman from Camden, New Jersey where he earned the ranking of the 15th best prospect in the Garden State from Rivals.  Like Vernon, Watkins has had his moments in the pre season.

There are other wide outs that'll get some looks, but the aforementioned players will get an opportunity to feel the large gap left by Eron Riley.  So, come Saturday, a lot of eyes will be on Scottie Mongomery's [Duke WR Coach] young men.  With the top four players on the depth chart being true freshman and sophomores there will be a lot of growing up to do on the field, but maybe there is a playmaker in the bunch ready to break out.

Stay tuned to BDN for game week and game day coverage.

Duke Football

Duke QB Sean Renfree ready for his freshman season

Duke feeshman QB Sean Renfree - BDN Photo
Duke feeshman QB Sean Renfree - BDN Photo

Duke backup quarterback Sean Renfree now has two years of practice under his belt and he hopes that means more reps.  During the pre season workouts, Coach Cutcliffe has praised Renfree stating that he would play this season.  How many reps Renfree gets remains to be seen, but in a recent interview the Devils future signal caller he said he was ready for the challenge.

Just press play -

Duke Football

Duke Football Practice Notes

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Note - Much of the BDN staff is on the road this weekend, thus slow updates until Sunday.

DEPTH CHART RELEASED
Duke head coach David Cutcliffe has announced the official depth chart for the season-opening game against Richmond ... On the offensive and defensive charts, 48 players are listed including eight seniors, 17 juniors, 10 sophomores, five redshirt freshmen and eight true freshmen ... Of the eight true freshman finding themselves on the depth chart, six are defensive players.

IMPRESSIVE RUN FOR OGHOBAASE
Redshirt senior Vince Oghobaase, a preseason All-ACC selction by the league's media contingent, has started all 36 games over the past three seasons ... That streak ranks as the seventh-longest active run in the nation, trailing only Ciron Black of LSU (40), Trevard Lindley of Kentucky (39), Rafael Priest of TCU (39), Nick Sanders of TCU (39), Dexter Davis of Arizona State (38), Sam Young of Notre Dame (38) and Will Barker of Virginia (37).

HAPRER BACK TO DT
Redshirt junior Brandon Harper has returned to the defensive side of the football following a brief stint at offensive guard ... Harper, who spent his first three years in Durham on the defensive line, switched to the offensive side of the ball this past spring, but finds himself back on offense mainly due to the lack of depth on Duke's defensive interior ... "I'm putting him back at defensive tackle because of obvious reasons with our depth at that position, and with Kinney Rucker's injury it just felt like we needed to beef ourselves up a bit there," head coach David Cutcliffe noted.  "It gives us some pretty good size in there with (Vince) Oghobaase, (Charlie) Hatcher, (John) Drew and Harper working as the top four." ... At Duke, Harper has played in 15 career games including 178 total snaps.

RUCKER PROGRESSING
Out of action since undergoing foot surgery in June, redshirt senior Kinney Rucker is making progress in his return to the field ... "I'm really pleased with his progress," head coach David Cutclife commented.  "It proves what I already know, that our training room and our rehab specialist, Kerry Mullinex, have been phenomenal with him and I think he's much further than everybody anticipated he would be." ... A native of Durham, N.C., Rucker has seen action in all 24 games with four starting assignments over the past two seasons ... In 2007, he posted 28 tackles with six tackles for loss and four quarterback sacks and last year registered 21 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

COMPETITION IN THE KICKING GAME
Duke's initial depth chart identifies strong competition for the kicking chores between juniors Nick Maggio and Will Snyderwine ... Maggio handled the duties last season, making 11-of-14 field goals and all 28 of his PAT attempts to lead the Blue Devils in scoring with 61 points, but suffered a facial injury late in the summer that required surgery and missed practice time ... "He just got hit square in the face by a softball off a bat at close range and it shattered his jaw, so he had to have surgery," said head coach David Cutcliffe.  "Typical Nick was just concerned about his kicking and not concerned about his looks.  He was so distressed over it but he's done remarkably well.  He's a tough kid." ... A walk-on member of the squad, Snyderwine is in his third season with the Duke program

SNYDERWINE IMPRESSES CUTCLIFFE
At Thursday's practice, head coach David Cutcliffe issued a challenge to kicker Will Snyderwine, who responsed in fine fashion ... "I said I was going to do something pretty mean to the whole team whether he made a kick or not, and I didn't give him a choice," said Cutcliffe.  "I said, 'this is it and I'm going to tell them why their doing it if you miss this kick', and he split the uprights.  Either he's scared of his teammates or he's got poise.  I don't know which; maybe a little bit of both."