Duke football is back on the practice field, and the next few weeks will say a lot about what kind of team the Blue Devils can be in 2026.
Fall camp opened Wednesday, August 5, giving Manny Diaz and his staff about a month to sort through one of the more unsettled rosters Duke has had in recent memory before the regular-season opener against Tulane on September 5. That game is set for 3:30 pm ET at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The challenge is obvious. Duke is trying to replace major production from last season on both sides of the ball, and a lot of the new faces are either mid-major transfers or returners who spent much of 2025 buried on the depth chart. That leaves plenty of uncertainty, but also plenty of open competition.
The Blue Devils are down their starting quarterback, their top three wide receivers, both starting offensive tackles, and several important pieces in the secondary. In other words, this camp is less about fine-tuning and more about finding answers.
At quarterback, San Jose State transfer Walker Eget is widely seen as the favorite to start in Week 1, but redshirt freshman Dan Mahan could still push for the job if Eget gets off to a shaky start.
For Diaz, this may be the hardest roster puzzle he has faced in Durham. Duke has had success in his first two seasons, but repeating anything close to last year’s historic run will be a steep climb. With so many spots still undecided, fall camp will be the first real look at who can handle bigger roles when the games start counting.
The ACC appears wide open in 2026, but Duke still has plenty to prove before it can think about being part of that conversation at the top.
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Duke Secondary Battle Could Decide Manny Diazs Fastest Fix
Dukes pass defense was one of the sore spots in a season that still ended with an ACC championship and a Sun Bowl win, and the numbers showed just how much work Manny Diaz has ahead of him. The Blue Devils finished 135th in defensive EPA against the pass, a problem that helped fuel their early losses and put the secondary squarely in the spotlight heading into a new year.
Diaz has responded by opening the competition wide up, with returning starters and incoming transfers all in the mix for playing time. The final call on the defensive backfield will come during fall camp, and the answer may be one of the clearest early indicators of how quickly Duke can clean up the back end before the season opener against Tulane. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Just Set Up One Of College Basketballs Toughest Tests
Duke has filled another notable spot on its non-conference calendar, adding Harvard to the mix for Dec. 4 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game is part of the Brotherhood Run series and brings Tommy Amaker, a former Blue Devil, back to campus as the Crimson add a familiar name to a schedule already packed with high-level tests.
The broader slate is shaping up as one of the more demanding ones in the country, with UConn, Illinois, Florida, Texas Tech and Gonzaga all on deck for 2026-27. Some of those games are tied to an Amazon broadcast package, and the new addition comes after a previously scheduled matchup with Michigan fell through amid media rights disputes, leaving Duke to reshuffle its lineup while still keeping the challenge level firmly intact. [Read more 🡒]