Duke’s 2026 preseason football honors list is packed with familiar names, transfer additions, and a few players already drawing national attention before camp even gets rolling.
Up front, center Matt Craycraft and guard Nick Del Grande headline the offensive line group. Craycraft, the returning starting center, landed Second Team All-ACC recognition from Athlon and Third Team All-ACC honors from Phil Steele. He’s also a Shriner’s Children’s East-West Bowl 1,000 selection and brings a strong academic track record, including three straight Academic All-ACC selections from 2023-25, two College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors in 2024 and 2025, and a spot on the Duke Dean’s List for the fall 2025 semester.
Del Grande, a graduate transfer from Coastal Carolina, earned Fourth Team All-ACC recognition from Athlon and is also on the Shriner’s Children’s East-West Bowl 1,000 list. He arrives after two All-Sun Belt seasons in 2023 and 2024, 35 starts over the last four years, and a 2025 campaign in which he served as team captain.
Duke’s skill positions also show up well on the honors sheet. Tight end Jeremiah Hasley was named All-ACC by the media, picked First Team All-ACC by Phil Steele and Second Team All-ACC by Athlon.
He’s another Shriner’s Children’s East-West Bowl 1,000 selection, and he enters 2026 after a 2025 Honorable Mention All-ACC season. Hasley has also stacked up the academic awards, with two Academic All-ACC nods, a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honor in 2025, and a mention from Pro Football Focus as the No. 6 returning tight end heading into 2026.
At quarterback, Walker Eget arrives as a graduate transfer from San Jose State and joins the Shriner’s Children’s East-West Bowl 1,000 group. Eget was an Honorable Mention All-Mountain West selection in 2025 and earned Academic All-Mountain West recognition in both 2024 and 2025.
Wide receiver Javen Nicholas comes to Duke as a graduate transfer from UNC Charlotte after spending the 2025 season with the 49ers and the three seasons before that at LSU. Jared Richardson also joins the program as a graduate transfer, coming over from Penn after one of the most decorated seasons in program history.
He earned first team All-America recognition from Sports Illustrated and the American Football Coaches Association, second-team honors from the Associated Press and Stats Perform, and unanimous All-Ivy League accolades in 2025. Richardson also picked up first team All-Ivy honors in 2023 and second team recognition in 2024.
Jayden Moore gives Duke another decorated returning receiver, earning Fourth Team All-ACC honors from Athlon as a kick returner and returning after an Academic All-ACC season in 2025.
The back end of the defense is represented too. Linebacker Luke Mergott earned Fourth Team All-ACC honors from Athlon, landed on the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List, and is a Shriner’s Children’s East-West Bowl 1,000 selection.
He’s a returning starter, a two-time Academic All-ACC pick, and one of five returning ACC student-athletes with 85 or more tackles in 2025. Linebacker Nick Morris Jr. is also on the Shriner’s Children’s East-West Bowl 1,000 list and was an Academic All-ACC and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree in 2023.
Safety DaShawn Stone rounds out the defensive honors with Fourth Team All-ACC recognition from Athlon.
Special teams has its own standout in punter Kade Reynoldson. He was named Second Team All-America by Phil Steele, First Team All-ACC by Phil Steele and Third Team All-ACC by Athlon. A returning starter, Reynoldson was a Freshman All-America selection by The Athletic and 247Sports.com in 2024, earned Honorable Mention All-ACC that season, won the John Folmer Most Valuable Special Teams Player award for the 2025 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, and added Academic All-ACC honors in 2024 and 2025 along with a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District nod in 2025.
There’s also a notable group of veterans and transfer linemen beyond Craycraft and Del Grande. Jordan Larsen, a returning starter on the offensive line, transferred from South Dakota and helped Duke win the 2025 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl and claim its first outright ACC championship since 1962. Before coming to Duke, he helped South Dakota reach the FCS semifinals in 2024 and share the Missouri Valley Football Conference title, and he was a two-time MVFC Honor Roll member in 2022 and 2023.
Micah Sahakian is entering his third season at Duke after transferring from Cornell before the 2024 campaign. He’s a returning offensive lineman, an Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominee, and has appeared in 34 career games with 21 starts, mostly at tackle. Sahakian missed the 2025 season because of injury, but his résumé still includes two All-Ivy League selections and a run as Cornell’s offensive team captain in 2023.
On the ground, Nate Sheppard enters the season with major preseason buzz of his own. He’s on the Maxwell Award Watch List and has been named Second Team All-ACC by both Phil Steele and Athlon.
Duke’s preseason honors picture is broad, and it reflects a roster that mixes proven returning starters with transfer additions who have already earned their stripes elsewhere.
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