5 storylines to track in spring practice

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way first: Spring football practices both provide glimpses into the future and eye candy for developments that are going to be rendered null and void by the second week of August.

Duke opened spring practice on Friday morning, the first of 15 practices for the Blue Devils as they turn the page on last year’s nine-win campaign.

The Blue Devils return an abundance of experience and contributors from last season’s surprise run, which netted first-year coach Mike Elko the ACC’s coach of the year award.

In that regard, think of this spring more as a continuation of the foundation that started being laid a year ago.

“When you come out for spring practice there is just so much excitement,” Elko said on Friday. “Excitement to get ready for next year to start the process of building this team and building the characteristics that this team needs to go out and be successful.

“Kids are excited about where this program is going and the direction we're heading. Now everything is about elevation. Taking last year and building off of it as we go into spring ball.”

There’s another disclaimer here, one dealing with timing; Duke’s spring game is April 22 and shortly after that, there’s another window for the transfer portal to open. That’ll be from May 1-15 and, while the shorter time frame suggests there won’t be as much movement, it’d be naïve to think rosters for any program will remain untouched.

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Here are the five storylines I’m most interested in tracking during spring football:

The skinny: The biggest personnel change at Duke probably isn’t a new starter; it’s new defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci, who takes over for Robb Smith.

Key figures: Santucci. … and perhaps Elko.

Number to know: 26 — that’s how many turnovers Duke’s defense forced last season, tied for seventh-most in the country.

Prediction: We’re not going to see much this spring that’s different in Duke’s defense and I’ve got a sense that’s going to be the case when games matter in the fall.

If there is a difference, it’s bound to be subtle. Duke’s base defense will remain a 4-2-5, utilizing Brandon Johnson as the nickel after he had a breakout season. Some of the blitz packages are bound to be tweaked, but that’s going to happen whether the coordinator is new or not.

But this is No. 1 to watch because, honestly, there’s so much returning for this team. Santucci is the only new assistant coach. Eighteen of 22 starters return between the offense and defense. Instead of last year at this time, when so much was unknown about the roster and strengths and weaknesses, there’s a bevy of known commodities.

The skinny: Duke had eight players record at least two sacks last season; only two of those players were defensive ends.

The Blue Devils did some creative things to generate pressure last season; having to do so again isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but Duke’s defense would benefit from being able to rush quarterbacks without sending linebackers and/or defensive backs.

Key figures: Defensive ends Vincent Anthony Jr., R.J. Oben, Ryan Smith, Anthony Nelson.

Number to know: 7 — the total sacks for Duke’s defensive ends last season.

Prediction: The likely candidates to make a developmental leap are last season’s starters, Anthony and Oben.

Anthony was thrown into the fire as a freshman and struggled at times. The top priority for him in the past few months will remain the same through the summer; he’s got to add weight to his 6-6, 228-pound frame.

Oben will be a third-year starter who’s generated pressure, but it’s rarely turned into sacks. Pro Football Focus credits him with 66 pressures over the past two seasons, but just nine of those translated to sacks.

Nelson is a bit of an x-factor here. The Harvard grad transfer was making a large impact last season before suffering a leg injury against Virginia. He returned for the last five games, meaning Duke was 8-2 in games he played.

Nobody is asking for All-ACC production from these guys; when you have tackles as strong as DeWayne Carter and Ja’Mion Franklin, they’re going to alleviate some things for the ends. But asking for improvement and more sacks is a natural next step.

The skinny: Duke signed a massive class last December and has gotten 10 of them to campus early.

Key figures: Early enrollees Grayson Loftis (QB), Marquise Collins and Peyton Jones (RBs), Vance Bolyard (TE), Apollos Cook (WR), Desmond Aladuge and Semaj Turner (DEs), Luke Mergott (LB), Quentin Ajiero and Moussa Kane (CBs).

Number to know: Four — how many freshmen played for Duke last season.

Prediction: I’m going to guess that whichever one of the defensive ends is more advanced will have a chance to crack the rotation, as Anthony did a year ago. And as crowded as Duke’s backfield is, this staff showed it would play at least three, maybe four running backs.

But I think the number of freshmen who play more than the four-game maximum will be under last year’s total.

This is a roster loaded with veteran players; it’s not one that needs freshman contributors. That could change with some injuries and/or roster attrition, but at this stage it’s unlikely many of these guys will play meaningful snaps.

Running back Terry Moore, cornerback Chandler Rivers, kicker Todd Pelino and Anthony were the freshmen who didn’t redshirt last season. Moore, it’s worth noting, has moved to safety according to Duke’s online roster.

The skinny: Duke didn’t lose many players, but the two most-significant losses are in the middle of the defense. The Blue Devils will need to replace the production of middle linebacker Shaka Heyward and safety Darius Joiner.

Key figures: Linebackers Cam Dillon, Tre Freeman, Nick Morris Jr., Jeremiah Hasley and Carter Wyatt; safeties Isaiah Fisher-Smith, Da’Quan Johnson, Terry Moore, Jaden Watkins, Kenzy Paul, Nathan Vail. … Plus Santucci, who’s also the linebackers coach, and safeties coach Lyle Hemphill.

Number to know: 191 — how many tackles Joiner (97) and Heyward (94) combined to make last season.

Prediction: Getting Dillon back might be this team’s biggest offseason addition.

He’s a grad transfer from Columbia who worked his way through the depth chart last fall. He played the 10th-most snaps on the defense (460) and had the third-most run stops (25, both according to PFF).

Dillon is the obvious pick to replace Heyward in the middle of the defense, but Freeman will get every opportunity to earn snaps. He played a season-high 51 snaps in the Military Bowl when Heyward was out. It’ll be interesting to see if Morris, Hasley or Wyatt earns their way into the rotation.

Safety is a little cloudier.

Johnson and Fisher-Smith played significantly more in 2021 than they did last season. Both are candidates to reemerge.

As noted, Moore has moved to safety after playing as a freshman at running back. Watkins was a receiver when he redshirted last season. Moving players to the other side of the ball shows Duke is open to some unconventional solutions in replacing Joiner.

The skinny: Riley Leonard is back with all of his friends.

Seriously, Duke returns every major contributor at offensive skill positions. It starts with Leonard, but the continuity through running backs, receivers and tight ends should lead to an explosive offense.

Key figures: Quarterback Riley Leonard, running backs Jaylen Coleman, Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore, wide receivers Jalon Calhoun, Eli Pancol, Jordan Moore, Sahmir Hagans, Jontavis Robertson, tight end Nicky Dalmolin.

Number(s) to know: 100% | 95.5% | 98.4% — that’s returning passing yards, rushing yards and receiving yards, respectively; and it doesn’t include Terry Moore’s numbers (128 rushing, 26 receiving) because he’s sliding over to defense.

Prediction: There’s some intrigue here with whether anybody upsets the hierarchy.

For example: Can Hagans move into a starting wide receiver spot, or does Pancol reclaim that now that he’s healthy? Duke is going to play multiple running backs, but who’s going to be No. 1?

Otherwise, though, this will be about what Elko talked about in the intro — taking stock of what worked and how it worked last season, but moving forward with a renewed desire.

This, from offensive lineman Jacob Monk, explains where Duke’s offense will be for the next few months.

“We're comfortable in the system that we've had in place for a year now but also we're just still hungry,” Monk said. “You would think after a year like we had people would ease up but we're working as hard as ever and we're just ready to keep going.”