A Duke playmaker is getting some national shine before the season even kicks off.
Tight end Jeremiah Hasley has been named to Bruce Feldman’s 2026 college football “Freaks List,” with The Athletic ranking him No. 56 among 101 players. It’s another notable preseason nod for Hasley, who is coming off a strong 2025 season and is now set to be a major part of Duke’s offense again.
The Blue Devils are about three weeks away from Week 1 and will open the 2026 season at home against Tulane. They enter the year after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title in 2025 by tiebreaker, then backing it up with a bowl win over Arizona State. But with quarterback Darian Mensah gone to Miami, Duke’s offense is going to look different, and the pressure shifts to other weapons to carry more of the load.
Hasley is one of those names.
Last season, he caught 48 passes for 517 yards and eight touchdowns, earning Honorable Mention All-ACC honors. He was also named a preseason All-American for 2026. Now he’s added another line to the resume, and Feldman’s write-up makes it clear why he landed on the list.
“He’s made huge improvements since coming to Duke in the summer of 2022. Hasley has added 18 pounds to his current 6-3 1/2, 251-pound frame, and he’s added almost eight inches to his vertical jump (now 37 inches). His L-drill time this offseason was 7.23 seconds (improved from 7.69) and his shuttle time is 4.28 (improved from 4.59).”
Feldman also noted Hasley’s 10-yard split of 1.59, which “would’ve only been topped by Oregon’s super freak Kenyon Sadiq at last year’s combine,” along with a 425-pound bench press that is up 95 pounds since he arrived at Duke. The Athletic also pointed to Hasley’s comeback from a season-ending knee injury in 2024, after which he put up 40 catches for 454 yards and six touchdowns.
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