Duke will open the NFL regular season with 13 former Blue Devils on active 53-man rosters, a strong showing for a program that sent three players to the draft and watched eight more land free agent deals after the 2026 NFL Draft.
Those 13 names are spread across the league, from Graham Barton with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Wesley Williams with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The full group on active rosters includes Josh Blackwell with the Chicago Bears, DeWayne Carter with the Buffalo Bills, Michael Carter II with the Philadelphia Eagles, Evan Deckers with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Noah Gray with the Kansas City Chiefs, Aaron Hall with the Carolina Panthers, Thomas Hennessy with the New York Jets, Daniel Jones with the Indianapolis Colts, Jacob Monk with the Green Bay Packers, Chandler Rivers with the Baltimore Ravens, Chris Rumph II with the New Orleans Saints and Wesley Williams with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Several more Duke products are close by, even if they are not on the active list right now. Jake Bobo with the Seattle Seahawks, Victor Dimukeje with the San Francisco 49ers, Brian Parker II with the Cincinnati Bengals and Justin Pickett with the Las Vegas Raiders are all on reserve/injured lists with a designation to return.
Duke also has four players parked on practice squads: Anderson Castle with the Indianapolis Colts, Joe Giles-Harris with the Cincinnati Bengals, Shaka Heyward with the Cincinnati Bengals and Jordan Moore with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The program’s 2026 NFL Draft cycle was one of its most productive stretches in years, with three Blue Devils drafted, eight signing NFL free agent contracts and two earning minicamp invitations.
In Other News...
Dukes Ground Game Suddenly Carries Real Weight Against Illinois
Illinois comes into the matchup with some early-season questions after a shaky Week 1 showing against UAB, a performance that left its defense with work to do and nudged the Illini down in ESPNs Football Power Index. Even so, the market still leans their way heading into Week 2, which makes Dukes ground game one of the more interesting pressure points in the game plan.
The Blue Devils have a legitimate rushing threat in Nate Sheppard, and that gives this game a very different shape than the usual underdog script. If Illinois wants to control the afternoon, the obvious answer is to load up against the run and make Dukes quarterback carry more of the burden, but that approach comes with its own risk if the Devils can keep winning early downs on the ground. [Read more 🡒]
Manny Diaz Just Gave Duke Fans A Real Reason To Believe Again
A new season can feel like a referendum on a programs direction, and Duke got a useful answer Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils handled Tulane 17-3 with a defense that set the tone from the opening snaps, keeping the Green Wave off the board until the fourth quarter and giving the home crowd a much different kind of opening-weekend energy than the one theyve grown used to.
There was offense to build around, too, and it came mostly through sophomore running back Nate Sheppard, who looked like the kind of back who can carry more than just a workload. For Manny Diaz, the bigger takeaway was the mentality after an offseason defined by losses, with the coach pointing to the way his players have responded and expressing confidence in the belief inside the program. The early results do not fix everything, but they do give Duke something it has lacked for a while: a reason to think this can be more than a temporary spark. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Week 1 Win Exposed One Question That Could Define The Season
Duke opened the season with a 17-3 win over Tulane, and the blueprint was clear from the start: lean on the run game, play stout defense and let the game come to them. The defense held up its end, with Bryce Davis, Tyshon Reed and Nick Morris Jr. part of a group that helped keep Tulane from finding much rhythm, while the offense showed enough balance to suggest there is room for growth after a strong first step.
The bigger question, though, is how the Blue Devils will handle the passing game as the schedule stiffens. Walker Egets first start for Duke left some things to sort out, and Jared Richardsons involvement was limited enough to stand out in a win that otherwise checked a lot of boxes. If Duke is going to build on an encouraging opener, the next few weeks may show whether the offense can evolve beyond a run-heavy script. [Read more 🡒]