Duke offensive lineman Matt Craycraft has added another honor to a resume already packed with recognition, landing among the 20 semifinalists for the 10th annual Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award, the organization announced Wednesday afternoon.
Craycraft, who is from Dallas, Texas, has built his case over five seasons with the Blue Devils. He has appeared in 41 career games with 33 starts and logged 2,390 snaps.
A three-year starting center, he fronts an offensive line that has been dominant this season, leading the country in fewest sacks allowed and ranking fourth in sack yards lost with 16. In three conference games, Duke has allowed only 1.0 sack, tied for the fewest nationally.
The Blue Devil line also sits tied for sixth nationally and second in the ACC in fewest tackles for loss allowed per game at 2.67, and it ranks second nationally in fewest yards lost on TFLs.
His impact stretches beyond this year’s numbers. In 2024, Craycraft helped anchor a line that ranked among the nation’s best in sacks allowed, and he was part of Duke’s 2025 ACC Championship season, when the Blue Devils set program records with 63 touchdowns, 484 points and a 152.53 pass efficiency rating. He helped protect a passing game that averaged 285.36 yards per game in 2025, the program’s highest mark since 2009, while also creating running lanes for a ground attack that produced a first in school history: two backs with at least 10 touchdowns apiece, Anderson Castle with 12 and Nate Sheppard with 11.
The honors have piled up for Craycraft as a graduate student. He was also named a semifinalist for the 2026 William V.
Campbell Trophy and earned spots on the Rimington Trophy Watch List, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List and Shriners Children's East-West Bowl 1,000. Entering the 2026 season, he was picked as an Athlon Second Team Preseason All-ACC selection and a Phil Steele Third Team Preseason All-ACC selection.
Away from the field, Craycraft has taken on a clear leadership role. He was chosen as a team captain for the 2026 season and serves on Duke’s leadership council.
He also represents the Blue Devils on the ACC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and helped create NXT40, a networking app that connects student-athletes with Duke alumni for mentorship and career opportunities. Academically, he has earned three All-ACC Academic Football Team selections, four ACC Academic Honor Roll honors and two Academic All-District honors.
Jason Witten praised the group of semifinalists in his announcement: "I'm very honored to announce the semifinalists for the Collegiate Man of the Year," said Witten. "These twenty young men are prime examples of what makes college football so great.
They have separated themselves not just by their play on the field, but how they have been leaders in the locker room, in their communities and in their own families. They are great representatives for their schools and the game of football, and I commend all nominees for getting to this point."
The winner will receive a $10,000 contribution in his name to his school’s athletic scholarship fund from Jason Witten’s SCORE Foundation, the official charity of Witten and his wife Michelle. Founded in 2007, the foundation says it has positively impacted tens of thousands of children and families in Texas and Tennessee over the last 17 years, and it runs the SCOREkeepers program at nine shelters in the two states, placing trained male mentors on staff to work with children at family violence shelters.
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