The Blue Devils confirmed the addition of 20 players for this fall Wednesday, a class highlighted by the nation’s top kicker and two highly-rated running backs.
Duke’s class ranks eighth in the ACC according to Rivals.com, the highest grade in head coach David Cutcliffe’s tenure. Cutcliffe, though, believes that combine numbers and highlight reels play too prominent a role in rankings.
“Wow,” Cutcliffe said. “That’s what we feel like in this class. That’s our ranking. It blew me away.”
Kicker Ross Martin owns the highest positional ranking of any new Blue Devil, and he will fill the shoes of graduating Will Snyderwine, a 2010 All-American. The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio native held scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, Texas and a handful of Ivy League schools, among others, and has hit field goals from up to 65 yards in practice. Cutcliffe acknowledged that Martin would be the favorite to win the kicking job heading into the 2012 season.
Geographically, the class is composed of student-athletes from all four time zones and 10 different states. The most-represented state is Duke’s own, North Carolina, leading the way with five players.
“We always start inside-out,” Cutcliffe said.
Eighteen of the high school seniors had made verbal commitments to the Blue Devils before Wednesday, but the team picked up a pair of surprise additions on National Signing Day—Jela Duncan, Rivals’ 23rd-rated running back, and Keilin Rayner, the 44th-best linebacker. While Rayner’s recruitment had been wide-open headed into Wednesday, Duncan had posted Tuesday night on his Twitter account that he was only considering East Carolina, Wake Forest and Purdue.
Cutcliffe boasted that North Carolina beat border-rival South Carolina in the Shrine Bowl game this year thanks to Duncan, who rushed for 112 rushing yards in the contest, including a 76-yard touchdown.
Tight ends Dan Beilinson, who also played in the Shrine Game, and Erich Schneider, listed at 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-6, respectively, have the potential to create a major mismatch against opposing defenses. While Sean Renfree will be the one throwing passes to Beilinson and Schneider next season, questions remain regarding who will be his successor. Returning quarterbacks Brandon Connette and Anthony Boone are in the discussion, but freshman Thomas Sirk, who enrolled for the 2012 Spring semester, saw tremendous success in high school both running and throwing. This is Cutcliffe’s third consecutive quarterback recruit who excels running with the ball.
“It’s not an accident,” Cutcliffe said. “It evens your numbers….We’re bending in that direction to try to help us win football games.”
Cutcliffe compared the strategy to the single wing and options offenses run by other football teams. Although Sirk will likely have to spend time on the bench before leading the offense, some of his peers may have the opportunity to play as freshmen.
“I think this class, more than any we’ve had, has a number who might [be able to contribute early],” Cutcliffe said.
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