With the 2016 season right around the corner, The Chronicle's football beat writers break down each of the nine major position groups: quarterbacks, running backs,receivers, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, defensive backs, kicker/punter and punt/kickoff returners to prepare you for the regular season.
After throwing a bunch of inexperienced players into the fire of ACC football last season due to injuries, Duke defensive coordinator Jim Knowles comes into the 2016 campaign with a lot of confidence in his fast and young linebacking core. Led by sophomore Ben Humphreys, the Blue Devils look to build on an impressive run defense that ranked fourth in the ACC in yards allowed per carry.
But they will be without ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jeremy Cash, who made his presence felt in the run game despite playing safety. Humphreys has the talent to help stop opposing rushing attacks and take over Cash’s role as a leader of the defense both on and off the field.
Key Players Lost: Dwayne Norman, Kelby Brown
The Blue Devils will miss third-team All-ACC linebacker Dwayne Norman, who blossomed after converting from safety to linebacker prior to his senior year in Durham. Norman led the team in tackles in 2015 with 114 and teamed up with Cash in the run defense to combine for 26.5 tackles for loss. The Jacksonville, Fla., native was also one of the leaders last season for an inexperienced linebacking core, mentoring projected 2016 starters Humphreys and redshirt freshman Joe Giles-Harris.
The oft-injured Brown will also be departing, but although the former All-ACC linebacker will be missed, the Blue Devils have become acclimated to playing without him. Brown had not completed a season since 2013 after tearing the ACL in his left knee on two separate occasions, so he worked as a graduate assistant in 2015 to help the younger linebacking core.
Cutcliffe on the Linebackers
Ben is one of the best leaders we have on our team as a young player.
We have competition at every position, but certainly there with Tinashe [Bere] and Zavier Carmichael and Joe Giles-Harris, we've got some young, talented linebackers. You better play hard, you better know what to do and you better make plays. That's how you're going to find your way onto the field at a lot of positions right now on defense.
We've got people that can cover ground, but also cover people. It changes coverage opportunities.
Projected Starters
With the season opener less than a week away, Humphreys is expected to take over as the starting mike linebacker after breaking out in Duke's 2015 New Era Pinstripe Bowl victory against Indiana, when the Newport Beach, Calif., native registered a career-high 11 tackles. Appearing in all 13 games last year, Humphreys recorded 31 total tackles and a sack. Humphreys made big strides in the weight room during the offseason, leading the linebacking unit in a range of categories from clean lift to broad jump as he put on more than 20 pounds.
On the weak side, redshirt freshman Joe Giles-Harris is slated to take over the position from redshirt sophomore Tinashe Bere, who will come off the bench despite posting 58 tackles last season. Giles-Harris, who is Humphreys' roommate, looks to combine a unique combination of speed and size—he is listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds—to become a formidable and versatile linebacker.
Although both projected starters are relatively inexperienced, they have both drawn rave reviews from the coaching staff, leapfrogging ahead of two players—Bere and Zavier Carmichael—who both saw time at the two positions last season.
Dark Horse: Zavier Carmichael
Carmichael began last season charted as the team’s starting middle linebacker and played in all 13 games, starting five. Although the junior did not play poorly, with 32 tackles and a season-high seven against Northwestern, Humphreys became the clear mike linebacker during the offseason, relegating Carmichael to the bench. Expect Carmichael to see the field and make plays as an experienced and well-acclimated backup linebacker when Humphreys needs a breather.
Be sure to stay with the Blue Zone for our continuing 2015 position preview series. Check in tomorrow to read about Duke's experienced secondary, a unit that should be one of the Blue Devils' biggest strengths.
Hank Tucker contributed reporting.
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