Just how good is Nate Sheppard?
Good enough to shove his name into a conversation Duke football hasn’t had much reason to enjoy for a long time.
The easiest way to see it is through the numbers. Desmond Scott, a Durham product out of Hillside High and one of David Cutcliffe’s early recruiting wins, led Duke in rushing as a freshman with 262 yards.
That was the low-water mark for a Duke season leader in rushing. Nate Sheppard cleared that total in the first half of Duke’s second game, a 31-27 win at Illinois.
That kind of pace says plenty on its own.
Scott had a solid Duke career. He led the Blue Devils in rushing in 2009 and 2010, and would have done it again in 2011 if not for three missed games because of injury.
In 2012, he shifted to wide receiver and caught 66 passes for the first Duke team under Cutcliffe to reach a bowl, ending an 18-year drought. He finished with 1,159 rushing yards, 1,214 receiving yards and 143 catches.
Pretty good player. Not the point here.
The point is that Sheppard is operating on a different level this season, at least compared with the standard Duke has usually had to measure against. Hugh Straine of Sports Illustrated wrote earlier this month that “the stud sophomore has been one of the most productive players in college football, and he might be the most valuable player in the entire sport.
Duke has an identity, and it revolves around the run game. Sheppard leads that charge.”
That kind of national attention is rare for Duke football, even if Duke people are used to seeing their athletes collect major hardware in other sports.
The men’s basketball program alone has produced 14 recognized national player of the year winners. Michelle Cooper won the Hermann Trophy in 2022 as the nation’s top women’s soccer player.
Duke men have won that award six times, with Andrew Wenger taking it in 2011. Brennan O’Neill won the 2023 Tewaarton Award as the top men’s lacrosse player in 2023.
Women’s basketball, women’s tennis and women’s lacrosse have all produced national winners too, and Dave Sime was setting world sprint records as a Duke student in 1956.
Football has been a different story.
Duke has had its share of excellent players and standout seasons, including offensive guard Laken Tomlinson earning first-team AP All-American honors in 2014 and safety Jeremy Cash doing the same in 2015. Cash was also the ACC defensive player of the year that season, though Deshaun Watson took both ACC offensive player of the year and overall player of the year honors.
Duke’s last ACC player of the year in football was running back Robert Baldwin in 1994. Baldwin made third-team AP All-America that year, but as far as the available record shows, he did not get a Heisman Trophy vote in the top 10.
That’s the backdrop for Sheppard’s season: Duke football hasn’t spent much time in this territory, and when it has reached for individual honors, the list is short. College football hands out awards for almost everything, including the Patrick Mannelly Award for the best long snapper in the FBS. Mannelly, of course, was an offensive lineman and long snapper at Duke before becoming an NBA star as the latter.
Duke has had one player win one of the sport’s more prestigious awards. To find it, you have to go back a long way.
In Other News...
Cameron Boozer Is Already Earning The Kind Of NBA Praise Duke Expected
Cameron Boozers one-and-done season at Duke already gave the Blue Devils plenty to point to when it came to his profile as a future pro, and that conversation only got louder after the 2026 NBA Draft. Selected No. 3 overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, Boozer arrived in the league with the kind of reputation Duke fans are used to seeing attached to elite recruits who do not need long to prove they belong.
Former Virginia guard Ty Jerome added to that buzz during media day, offering a public nod to Boozers maturity and the broader package that made him such a coveted prospect. For Duke, it is another reminder that Boozers value was never just about the ranking or the hype, but about how quickly he earned trust as a leader and how smoothly he translated that into the next level. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Freshman Already Drawing Buzz As A Real Piece This Season
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje arrives at Duke with a different kind of resume than most freshmen. The 17-year-old spent his early career at FC Barcelona before making the jump to Durham, and his background has already given the Blue Devils another young frontcourt piece worth watching as the season gets underway.
There is still an adjustment period ahead as he settles into college basketball, but the early buzz around Boumtje Boumtje is real enough to have his teammates talking. Sophomore Dame Sarr, another former FC Barcelona player, has been among those expressing confidence in what Boumtje Boumtje can become, and Duke will be counting on that transition to keep moving in the right direction as his role grows. [Read more 🡒]
Jon Scheyer Knows What This Duke Team Must Finally Prove
Jon Scheyer has spent enough time around Duke basketball to know the standard never really loosens, even after seasons that push the Blue Devils close to the top of the sport. As he looks at this years roster, the message is less about chasing the exact feel of recent teams and more about carrying forward what worked while trying to keep Duke in the hunt at the highest level.
The challenge, as Scheyer sees it, is that the Blue Devils cannot simply assume last seasons formula will show up again in the same way. The pieces that made that group so difficult to copy are not easy to replace, and the next step is making sure this roster keeps strengthening its foundation while aiming to compete deep into the season. [Read more 🡒]