ACC Transfer Portal Breakdown: Duke
As SMU football nears its first season competing in the ACC, On the Pony Stampede will break down the transfer classes of every team in the conference.
The series begins with Duke, currently ranked No. 17 out of 17 teams in the ACC. The Blue Devils have lost 20 players to the portal, including two four-star transfers and 17 three-star transfers. They have added 10 players, including nine three-star transfers.
That gives Duke a -20 Index Score in the On3’s Team Transfer Portal Index.
Duke Transfer Class Breakdown
There are a pair of former four-star recruits who will suit up for Duke this season. Quarterback Maalik Murphy comes in from Texas while James Pogorelc travels east from Stanford.
On the offensive side, the Blue Devils also bring in Mike Barr (OL, Lafayette), Eric Schon (OL, Holy Cross), Micah Sahakian (OT, Cornell), Jack Purcell (OT, Penn) and Javon Harvey (WR, Old Dominion).
The defensive pickups come in the form of Kendy Charles (DL, Liberty), Will Seiler (DL, Penn) and Alex Howard (LB, Youngstown State). Howard spent this spring at Texas A&M before re-entering the portal and ending up at Duke.
Outside of Murphy, it’s not a group that will draw a lot of attention, but there are some workable pieces for first-year head coach Manny Diaz and his offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer and defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke. Most of them are moving up a level after being good in either G5 or FCS situations earlier, so much of this class’ success will be about how they handle tougher competition.
Top Offensive Transfer: QB Maalik Murphy
The key piece of Duke’s class is Murphy. He was a four-star recruit and helped keep things going for the Longhorns as they went to the College Football Playoff, stepping up when Quinn Ewers went down with starts against BYU and Kansas.
Murphy finished the season with 477 yards and three touchdowns on 40-of-71 passing with three interceptions. He also added a rushing score.
“The arm strength is among the best in the class. Murphy is among the bigger quarterbacks in the 2022 cycle and can generate a bunch of force with the football,” On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power said in 2021 during Murphy’s senior year at Gardena (Cali.) Junipero Serra. “He’s still developing as an overall quarterback and has limited live reps. There’s no question he’ll need time and will benefit from scout team work once he gets to college. Murphy moves adequately at best and is not a run threat who will need to continue improving his mobility.”
Top Defensive Transfer: DL Kendy Charles
Charles started all 13 games of the 2022 season and played in eight games this past season and Liberty won the Conference USA title and played Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. He finished this season with 26 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and three sacks. Charles also recovered a fumble and had two quarterback hurries.
In 2022, he was fourth on the team with 59 tackles and had 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks for a Liberty team that was No. 1 and No. 3 in tackles for loss and sacks, respectively, in the country.
At 6-feet, 280 pounds he is a little undersized, but seems to make up for it with a high motor.
Key Losses
The two biggest hits are where Duke hopes its two biggest pickups are, quarterback and defensive line.
The Devils lost QB Riley Leonard (Notre Dame) who was a two-year starter and threw for 4,069 yards and 23 touchdowns in 20 games. His 2023 season was shortened due to an injury.
They also will do without defensive lineman Aneas Peebles (Virginia Tech) who played in 48 games over four seasons with 87 tackles, 14.5 for loss and 8.5 sacks with two fumbles forced, one recovered and three quarterback hurries.
Duke also lost its sixth-leading tackler in cornerback Brandon Johnson (Oregon). He had 56 tackles, including 8.5 for loss and two sacks, to go with four pass breakups and three quarterback hurries.
The post ACC Transfer Portal Breakdown: Duke appeared first on On3.
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