Duke’s 2026 season is already being shaped by competition, and a couple of spots could end up carrying a lot of weight once the games start.
The Blue Devils opened training camp on Wednesday with a roster full of new faces, thanks to a heavy push through the transfer portal and a group of returners now moving into bigger jobs. Duke is coming off an ACC title in 2025, but expectations heading into the 2026 regular season are grim. The opener comes September 5 against Tulane at Wallace Wade Stadium.
One of the clearest places to watch is quarterback. It may not feel like much of a true battle right now, but that can change quickly in camp and even after the season begins.
Duke brought in quarterback Eget from San Jose State after Darian Mensah hit the transfer portal at the last second. Over two seasons as the Spartans’ starter, Eget threw for 5,555 yards with 30 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He’s widely seen as the likely starter, though the real question is how much patience Manny Diaz will show if the early results aren’t there.
Redshirt freshman Dan Mahan is waiting in the wings. He’s still young, but his dual-threat upside makes him an interesting option if Duke wants to look elsewhere.
Safety is another spot worth tracking. Pellicciotta was one of just five Duke freshmen in 2025 to appear in more than four regular-season games, and he finished with 26 total tackles, 0.5 TFLs, and an interception. He looks like the favorite, but North Texas transfer Patrick Smith-Young has a real chance to push him.
Smith-Young was one of Duke’s most productive incoming transfers and led the Mean Green secondary in 2025 with 73 tackles and three pass deflections. The catch is the same one that comes with a lot of Duke’s transfers: he hasn’t proven it at the Power Conference level yet. Pellicciotta has.
There aren’t many races on this roster that look wide open as camp begins, but quarterback and safety stand out as the two to watch.
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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 Fall Camp Opens With One Huge Question For ACC Title Defense
Fall camp opened Aug. 5 for Duke with the kind of roster reset that can make even a defending champion feel newly assembled. The Blue Devils are back to work preparing for a Sept. 5 opener against Tulane, but the bigger storyline is the same one hanging over the entire camp: replacing the core pieces from last season, including the starting quarterback and top wide receivers, while trying to keep the momentum of an ACC title defense alive.
San Jose State transfer Walker Eget enters camp as the leading candidate to run the offense, which gives Duke at least a starting point as the quarterback competition unfolds. Even so, this is not a job the Blue Devils appear eager to hand out on reputation alone, and the staff has made clear that the next several weeks will matter in sorting out the depth chart before the season begins. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Just Set Up One Of College Basketballs Toughest Tests
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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 🡒]