Signing Day Brings 16 New Blue Devils
David Cutcliffe’s latest class isn’t seen as that great but he has a habit of finding underappreciated talent.
Signing day for a college football program is an exercise in optimism. All of a team’s needs were met, every recruit is above average and what do those pesky recruiting experts know anyway?
“Recruiting is the lifeblood of the program” is on par with “children are our future” for originality.
Doesn’t mean it isn’t true. This time last year we were looking at a list that included Jacob Monk, Jalon Calhoun, Darrell Harding, Eli Pancol and Jalen Alexander and wondering who could contribute right away.
They all did. Others got their feet wet, still others didn’t see the field at all.
The pundits rank this is a ho-hum class and truth be told David Cutcliffe and his staff seem to be in the business of recruiting 3-star recruits and developing them as best they can. Cornerback Tony Davis was the rare 4-star recruit in last year’s class but it was Alexander, consensus no. 94 cornerback by ESPN.com who became a major rotation player, while Davis was in the got-his-feet-wet category.
So, what do they know?
Here are the numbers. Duke signed 16. It’s possible Duke could add one or two more but Cutcliffe isn’t a fan of “stab at somebody I don’t know.”
If Duke adds someone else, look for it to be an offensive lineman or defensive back.
“We’re well aware who didn’t sign today,” Cutcliffe said.
And don’t look for a grad-student transfer. Cutcliffe doesn’t pursue them and only considers those with whom he has a prior relationship.
Wide receiver Malik Bowen, linebacker Christian Hood, defensive lineman Aeneas Peebles, defensive lineman Michael Reese and quarterback Luca Diamont will all enroll in January and participate in spring practice; it’s possible there could be a sixth early enrollee.
Diamont is the key. Cutcliffe says he expects Gunnar Holmberg to be healthy by spring but also expects Diamont to compete with Holmberg and Chris Katrenick for the vacant quarterback job.
“It’s a very competitive situation,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve got young players here and he’ll be a young player but we’ll have a fun spring to see what happens.”
“Versatile, aggressive, great speed, great arm, dedicated to the game. He’s a football junkie and I really love that about him. He’s worked all his life about him to be what he is today and that’s a quarterback.”
Cutcliffe went out of his way to compliment linebackers Christian Hood, Dorian Mausi and Ryan Smith.
“I really love that group. Point A to point B, what they do getting from one place to another may be the quickest I’ve seen. Again, the versatility, the speed, the explosiveness at that position is really special.”
Duke signed three defensive backs, Isaiah Fisher-Smith, Da’Quan Johnson and Kaylen Stinson.
Cutcliffe said that collectively they’re the best tackling group of DBs he’s signed at Duke and added that it is very hard to teach someone to tackle well, if they haven’t demonstrated that ability in high school.
Stinson is only 5-8, 170, but he won an Alabama prep championship in the javelin.
The javelin? At 170?
He could make an immediate impact as a punt returner.
Definitely look for Nicky Dalmolin to make an early impact. He committed to Duke as a sophomore and was the first to fax in his LOI today.
Dalmolin is 6-4, 215 and is listed as a wide receiver. But when asked about Dalmolin, Cutcliffe compared him to Braxton Deaver and Noah Gray, which suggests some familiarity with the weight room is in Dalmolin’s future.
“He’s a very athletic guy, loves to compete; lots of energy. He can do a lot of things for us.”
He’s a playmaker.
Defensive lineman Aeneas Peebles also came in for high praise. He’s a local kid, Knightdale to be exact. That’s in Wake County.
Peebles is listed at 6-2, 265 pounds and as a defensive lineman. One service ranks him as the number 15 defensive tackle in the country.
“He’s so aggressive. . . . He’s active. He has great hands. He uses his hands well, he uses his arms, he gets off blocks.. . . He’s an active guy. . . . He’s very explosive.”
With some openings at defensive tackle, Peebles could be in the mix for early PT.
Fisher-Smith is from Greensboro and he and Peebles are the only North Carolinians in the class.
Cutcliffe said “we just didn’t have a lot of people we thought fit a small class with what we needed. . . . I don’t even recall that we even lost anybody. . . . I think next year’s class will be much broader for us in the state of North Carolina.”
No running backs? Duke didn’t think it needed any, especially after moving Jordan Waters to running back and then red-shirting him.
Cutcliffe said Duke got better today. I’m sure the competition said something similar.
We’ll start finding out soon. After floating the idea of starting spring ball in January, Cutcliffe said Duke is looking at starting spring ball in early March, taking hiatus for spring break and ten returning, with April 5 as a tentative date for the spring game, format TDB.
NOTES
Not recruiting but Brittain Brown looks good for spring ball and Mark Gilbert is continuing to work towards a fall return. Marvin Hubbard is still struggling with injuries.