Chron Chat: Duke football prepares for Spring Showcase

<p>After a breakout season in 2015, redshirt senior Anthony Nash could be a reliable contributor on a young Duke receiving corps this year.</p>

After a breakout season in 2015, redshirt senior Anthony Nash could be a reliable contributor on a young Duke receiving corps this year.

With spring football under way for the Blue Devils, Seth Johnson and Sam Turken—two of The Chronicle's football beat writers—take a look at some of the major questions and storylines surrounding the team heading into its annual spring game Saturday at 10 a.m.

Duke pushed back spring camp to give the coaching staff time to take a breath and figure out their new roles. What do you expect to see from new offensive coordinator Zac Roper when the Blue Devils take the field for Saturday’s Spring Showcase?

Seth Johnson: Of all of the changes for the Blue Devils this season, I think Roper fits the most seamlessly into his new position. The new offensive coordinator mentored the running backs in his first five seasons at Duke, worked with standouts like All-American Jamison Crowder as the special teams coordinator for the last three years and developed the tight end unit consisting of Braxton Deaver, David Reeves and Erich Schneider in 2015. With that kind of wide-ranging experience under his belt, Roper is poised to develop a balanced offensive attack this season. By building chemistry with Schneider and the tight ends last season as well as having the option to develop weapons like rising sophomore T.J. Rahming that bring to mind Crowder's quickness in the receiving corps, Roper should be able to spread around his offense and move forward smoothly. I do not know if Saturday’s Spring Showcase will give much indication of where his offense is going at this point in the year, but Roper definitely has the experience and comfort in head coach David Cutcliffe’s system to make the offense churn this fall.

Sam Turken: It’s hard to say what to expect from Roper, who does not have much experience calling plays and leading an offense. He has mostly been a pupil under Scottie Montgomery and older brother Kurt Roper—the Blue Devils’ last two offensive coordinators—and Cutcliffe. He has served as a running backs and tight ends coach in addition to coaching special teams in Durham and coached running backs and tight ends at Cornell before coming to Duke, but he has never been an offensive coordinator at any level.

I think the offense will look a lot like it has these last two or three seasons. The Blue Devils will run a spread offense that mostly relies on run plays to open up opportunities for quarterback Thomas Sirk to take shots downfield, but Sirk—last's year starting quarterback—will not play Saturday and may miss the start of the season after tearing his left Achilles tendon in February. I would not be surprised if Cutcliffe frequently calls the plays as Roper adjusts to a bigger role on the sidelines.

Between graduation and some mid-season dismissals, Duke's wide receiver corps will have plenty of new faces—including a few coming off redshirt seasons—jockeying for playing time next season. Who will you have your eye on Saturday?

SJ: The Blue Devils have a litany of young talent at receiver with redshirt freshman Keyston Fuller, sophomore T.J. Rahming and redshirt sophomore Trevon Lee all making strides, but I will have my eye on redshirt senior Anthony Nash Saturday. After registering just five receptions in 16 games before 2015, Nash had a breakout year for Duke, hauling in 32 receptions for 475 yards and one touchdown last season. If Nash can establish a relationship with projected starting quarterback Parker Boehme and build off the success he had playing alongside Sirk—his roommate—last season, the 6-foot-5 wideout could be set to become the next standout on the edge for Roper’s new offense. With his height and good hands, Nash is poised to make a statement for the offense this weekend and moving forward.

ST: Duke is definitely losing a lot at wide receiver. Max McCaffrey was a reliable target throughout his four years at Duke, leading the Blue Devils in receiving yards, receptions and touchdown catches as a senior last year, and Duke also lost a playmaker with the dismissal of Johnell Barnes late in the season.

Rahming will potentially be Sirk’s primary target after an impressive freshman season, and I expect the Blue Devil coaching staff to use him in a multitude of ways. Although he is 5-foot-10, his quickness allows him to play in the slot or on the edges and to be involved in the run-game. He’s a playmaker wherever he is on the field, much like Jamison Crowder was two years ago.

I also expect Nash’s role to increase. After seeing limited playing time in Duke’s first five games last season, the redshirt senior quickly emerged as one of the Blue Devils’ most consistent downfield threats, finishing with a team-leading 14.8 yards per catch. He is Duke’s biggest receiver at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds and can rely on his size to create mismatches and catch passes in traffic against small defensive backs.

I’m waiting to see Lee take the field more often. The Plantation, Fla., native was a four-star recruit out of high school in 2014, but has yet to play a significant role in Duke’s passing game. Fuller may also be able to crack the Blue Devils’ rotation of receivers after showing potential in spring practice in 2015.

ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jeremy Cash is heading to the NFL and cornerback Evrett Edwards is transferring. But the bulk of the secondary returns, and Bryon Fields is getting set to return after his ACL injury last August. Who will need to make the biggest strides for the Blue Devils to patch up the defense, which allowed big play after big play through the air late in the season?

SJ: I do not know if it necessarily comes down to a single player making big strides, but the secondary as a whole has to demonstrate the ability we have seen in the last few seasons to come together as a unit. Redshirt senior safety-turned-cornerback DeVon Edwards will have to show that he can continue to hold bigger, more aggressive receivers in check. Redshirt junior Phillip Carter will need to keep the momentum rolling after registering six tackles and one interception during last season's Pinstripe Bowl win. Senior leadership will be key from returning starters like Deondre Singleton, and incoming talent like four-star recruit Dylan Singleton will have to live up to the lofty expectations set in the offseason. Although Cash is certainly not replaceable, having the entire group demonstrate that all of the Cheetahs combined can replace the loss of the most highly-touted defender in the ACC will be the biggest key moving forward.

ST: A main priority for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ unit this upcoming season will be to generate more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Blue Devils continuously gave up big plays through the air last year because opposing quarterbacks had enough time to sit in the pocket and wait for their receivers to get open. In addition to replacing Cash, Duke will have a large hole to fill after the departure of linebacker Dwayne Norman, who led the Blue Devils in tackles last year. I expect to see defensive end Marquies Price’s role to expand in Duke's pass rush. The 6-foot-6 sophomore defensive end showed glimpses of his ability to generate pressure in 2015 with 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

The Blue Devils will also have to improve on the edges against more athletic wide receivers. After a strong start, senior cornerback Breon Borders struggled to defend faster wide receivers. Sophomore Alonzo Saxton and freshman Jeremy McDuffie—who mostly served as replacements for Fields—were also inconsistent, but Fields' return will provide a much-needed boost for the secondary. The Charlotte, N.C., native finished tied for fourth on the team with 5.4 tackles per game in 2014 before his preseason injury last year.

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