Duke graduate offensive lineman Sahakian has been nominated for the 2026 Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team, putting him among 175 student-athletes recognized nationwide for community service, academic achievement and leadership.
The team, created in 1992 and presented by Allstate since 2008, is built around players who use their platforms to help strengthen communities and support causes that matter to them. This year’s group will be announced in September and will feature 22 student-athletes and one honorary head coach. One player will also be chosen as captain and earn the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy.
For Sahakian, the nomination adds another layer to a Duke career shaped by both production and persistence. The Mount Prospect, Illinois, native has appeared in four games for the Blue Devils with two starts.
He missed the opening stretch of the 2024 season while recovering from injury, returned for the final month, then sat out the entire 2025 season because of injury. Even so, he is expected to be in the mix for a starting role on Duke’s offensive line in 2026.
His résumé away from the field is just as notable. Sahakian earned a spot on the ACC Academic Honor Roll during the 2024-25 campaign and was a two-time All-Ivy League selection at Cornell, where he was honorable mention in 2022 and second team in 2023.
When he arrived at Duke in 2024, Pro Football Focus rated him as the program’s highest-graded transfer at 89.5. He also received Duke’s 2024 Micah Harris Trinity Teammate Award, which goes to the player who best shows inspiration, unselfishness and commitment to the team.
Sahakian graduated from Cornell in May 2024 with a bachelor of applied science in pre-medical studies and a business minor. He is now pursuing a masters in liberal studies with a certificate in global health at Duke.
His community work stretches well beyond campus. Sahakian has traveled to Lebanon four times over the last five years, most recently in January 2026.
He said he chose Lebanon because it is where his parents immigrated from before he was born. Those trips have come through Living With Power, the nonprofit ministry started by his aunt to help Syrian refugees and the Lebanese.
During those visits, he has spent time with adults and children who lack homes, jobs, stable schooling or enough food, while also helping run faith-based sports camps and medical clinics. He has said those experiences humbled him and gave him perspective on his own life.
He has also volunteered at Duke Children’s Hospital, New Hope Elementary School and the Emily K Center.
The selection process for the Good Works Team includes a panel of former honorees, college coaches, journalists and other award leaders, who weigh the scope of a nominee’s service, leadership, academics and the impact made on the people and causes they serve. The panel ultimately chooses 11 FBS players, 11 players from the FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA ranks, plus one honorary head coach.
Duke has built a strong track record with the award. The Blue Devils have had 15 players named to the AFCA Good Works Team, including 11 over the last 13 years. The list includes Chandler Rivers (2025), Ja'Mion Franklin (2023), DeWayne Carter (2022), Rakavius Chambers (2020), Koby Quansah (2019), Johnathan Lloyd (2018), Gabe Brander (2017), DeVon Edwards (2016), Kelby Brown (2015), Laken Tomlinson (2014), Dave Harding (2013), Sean Renfree (2012), Bryan Morgan (2010), Re'quan Boyette (2008) and Zaid Abdul-Aleem (1994).
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