Duke’s 2026 season is going to be defined by how quickly a rebuilt offensive line can come together, and Braden Miller is one of the new faces expected to help make that happen.
The Blue Devils enter the year with plenty of uncertainty on offense after the transfer portal and the NFL Draft ripped through a group that once looked good enough to push Duke into the preseason AP Top 25 conversation. Darian Mensah, who led the ACC with 3,973 passing yards and 34 passing touchdowns in his redshirt sophomore season, is gone.
So are Cooper Barkate, Que'Sean Brown, and Sahmir Hagans. Brian Parker II and Bruno Fina also left the offensive line after declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.
That leaves Duke searching for answers in the trenches, especially with projected starting quarterback Walker Eget now needing protection from a line that has to replace major pieces. The Blue Devils were strong up front in 2024, when they allowed just 12 sacks, second-fewest in the ACC. The number climbed to 28 in 2025, but the unit still held up for much of the season.
Miller is being brought in to help steady that group. He arrives as a graduate student after spending two seasons at Michigan State and the last two at California, where he finally found a real role in 2025. The 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman appeared in 13 games and started seven for the Golden Bears, logging roughly 500 snaps across guard and both tackle spots.
That kind of versatility is part of why Duke targeted him. Miller was a 3-star recruit out of Eaglecrest High School in Colorado, ranked by the 247Sports 2022 Composite Rankings as the No. 1,019 overall player, the No. 90 offensive tackle, and the No. 5 player in the state. Duke offered him out of high school, but he chose Michigan State instead.
His path through college was slow at first. He redshirted as a true freshman, played in only three games as a redshirt freshman in 2023, then saw limited action in his first season at Cal before earning more consistent playing time last fall. At Berkeley, he helped protect Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, one of the best young quarterbacks in college football.
Now the assignment is different. Miller is expected to step into a bigger role right away for Duke and help fill the void left by Parker. He may not match Parker’s production, but his size and flexibility give the Blue Devils a valuable option as they try to keep the offense moving.
That matters even more with Nate Sheppard back after his standout true freshman season. Duke’s running game still has a centerpiece, but it needs the line to do its part. Miller, along with Coastal Carolina transfer Nick Del Grande and the rest of the front, will be expected to make that possible.
In Other News...
Darian Mensah Finally Addressed The Duke Exit Fans Still Can't Believe
Darian Mensahs path out of Duke was one of the strangest offseason storylines in the ACC, especially for a quarterback who arrived from Tulane with a two-year NIL commitment and then wound up in the transfer portal just before the deadline. Duke responded by filing suit, but the case never reached court and was settled before it could play out, leaving the situation to sit in that awkward space college football has created where contracts, portals and player movement keep colliding.
At the 2026 ACC Football Kickoff, Mensah finally spoke publicly about the exit and the timing behind it, offering the first real explanation for how it all unfolded. The comments gave some clarity, but not enough to make the episode any less jarring for Duke fans, especially with the quarterback now looking back on a move that still carries plenty of emotional and roster fallout for both sides. [Read more 🡒]
Recent Duke Star Sees Something Special In Boumtje Boumtje Already
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje is arriving in Durham with a reputation that already feels bigger than a typical freshman introduction. The Duke incoming big man has drawn attention for his rebounding, offensive feel and defensive versatility, and his MVP run at the FIBA U17 World Cup only added to the buzz around what he might become in college.
Kon Knueppel, the former Blue Devil now watching from the other side, sounded genuinely struck by Boumtje Boumtjes work on the glass during a recent podcast appearance. Duke fans have heard plenty about the long-term upside, with the expectation that he will be around for at least two seasons before the 2028 NBA Draft comes into view, but the more immediate question is how quickly that package translates once he gets to campus. [Read more 🡒]
ACC Scrambles For New Money As Duke Faces Bigger SEC Gap
The ACC is leaning harder into corporate sponsorships as commissioner Jim Phillips looks for new ways to keep the leagues financial footing steady in an era when revenue sharing has become a bigger pressure point. Along with media rights money, the conference has been widening its commercial reach, a sign that the business side of college sports is now as much a part of the race as what happens on the court and field.
The league said it brought in $826.5 million in total revenue for the 2024-25 sports season, with an average distribution of $47.1 million per full-share school, and it expects to top $900 million next season. The ACC has also adjusted how it shares money, rewarding programs that draw more TV viewers and find more postseason success, while new sponsorships, including a deal with AI cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest, are becoming part of the leagues broader push to close the gap. [Read more 🡒]