Intrasquad athletic contests are largely zero-sum. Not entirely. If a wide-open receiver drops a perfectly thrown pass, that doesn’t redound to the credit of the defense. It’s just a dropped pass.
So, what can we learn from a scrimmage like Duke held Saturday? It sort of resembled a real game, if the head coach was on the field in a real game, loudly and sometimes profanely voicing his displeasure when deemed appropriate. If a real game saw the defense force a three-and-out only to have the offense start all over at exactly the same spot.
But there was one thing I could glean from the scrimmage. Ideally, one would want one’s football team to be balanced between offense and defense. I talked earlier about Duke’s offense, the one with elite quarterback Riley Leonard and a skills group full of experience and talent and play-makers across the board.
And the offense did have some pretty impressive moments, segments when Leonard shredded the defense, when someone like Eli Pancol or Jordan Waters or Jaylen Coleman made an eye-opening play.
But not always. Maybe not even most of the time. There were times when Leonard had to throw it away under pressure, when a clean, open-field tackle resulted in a loss or the defensive line caved in the offensive line, when the chains were moving backwards.
Yes, Duke’s defense more than held its own against what we all think is an elite offense.
Perhaps that means Duke’s offense is over-rated. But I think it more likely that Duke’s defense has the potential to be pretty darn good.
There are some daunting personnel losses to be sure. Safety Darius Joiner and linebacker Shaka Heyward were Duke’s leading tacklers last season and both are preparing for the NFL draft. Ditto with safety Datrone “Speedy” Young. Duke’s defense lost depth pieces to the transfer portal, players like tackle Michael Larbie, linebacker Rocky Shelton and cornerback Tony Davis.
But that’s par for the course for a good program that replaces good players with other good players. Defensive tackles DeWayne Carter--he’s limited this spring--and Ja’Mion Franklin, end R.J. Oben, linebackers Dorian Mausi--he’s also out--and Cam Dillon are impact players.
And despite the loss of Joiner and Young, Duke could have a secondary to die for.
“We know it’s a challenge, especially in the back end,” Brandon Johnson said, after Saturday’s scrimmage, “filling the role that Darius had last year but we’re up to it. We don’t see a problem with it.”
Flexibility is one weapon Duke will utilize in the secondary. Duke is moving its DBs around the same way it’s moving its offensive linemen around, cross-training designed to put the best five on the field at any time.
“Having flexibility is good,” Johnson added. “The room itself is a competitive room and that’s pushing everyone to get better.”
Johnson is a junior from Newton, NC, in the western Piedmont. Late last season he became a formidable weapon in the blitz, notching 5.5 sacks. He also forced two fumbles, picked off two passes, defended nine more and made 55 tackles.
“Definitely looking forward to that,” Johnson said when asked about blitzing after last Saturday’s scrimmage. “Blitzing is one of my favorite things to do.”
Johnson added that the goal of the defense remains creating turnovers, sacks, tackles for losses, just being aggressive and dictating the pace of the game.
Jaylen Stinson, Isaiah Fisher-Smith, Cam Bergeron and Da’Quan Johnson (no relation to Brandon) also return from last season’s secondary.
As does one of my favorite players, cornerback Chandler Rivers. Rivers came in and won a starting spot as a true freshman at football’s most exposed position. Make a mistake at cornerback and the PAT teams are coming out. It is no place for the faint-hearted, certainly no place for a true freshman.
Yet Rivers came up with 52 tackles, an interception, seven passes defended and did so in a pass-centric ACC with such notables as Drake Maye, Sam Hartman and Brennan Armstrong throwing to formidable targets like Zay Flowers, Josh Downs and A.T. Perry.
Johnson said Rivers has a next level.
“He has a lot of upside and he’s getting better. I’m excited for Chandler.”
The secondary has been augmented. Al Blades, Jr. has transferred in from Miami, Myles Jones from Texas A&M. Both are highly-touted grad-students, both currently listed at cornerback, although that could change. Johnson said the duo bring a competitive edge to the team.
And there’s a new kid on the DB block, two actually. Duke moved wide receiver Jaden Watkins to safety and running back Terry Moore to the same position.
Johnson said Moore is making a big impression.
“Terry is an explosive guy, which we already knew coming from offense. Learning techniques, learning how to tackle, I think he’s picked it up pretty well. He’s been performing pretty good.”
Mike Elko said last week that his defense was in a good place, with work obviously to be done.
“I think the defense is getting more comfortable schematically with what we’re trying to do. The pass coverage execution is cleaning up.”
Johnson said fans who attend this Saturday’s public scrimmage should expect “a good competitive show between the offense and the defense.”
Now, if we can just keep the rain away.
Thanks for the excellent update, Jim. The defense last season was drastically improved over the last few seasons under Coach Cutcliffe, I’m excited to see more improvement in year two under Coach Elko. Duke has an excellent chance to beat some quality football teams this coming fall. If we get the offense and defense clicking at the same time, the opponents better watch out. Of course, the other side of the coin is Duke isn’t going to surprise any opponent in 2023. Opposing coaches will be prepared to face a quality football team.
Outstanding article as always. I am really interested in seeing how we match up with the tough schedule this season. Great opportunities to shine on both sides of the ball!