DURHAM – One potential hole in Duke’s roster for next season is going to be filled by a senior on its current roster.

Running back Jaquez Moore will only play in one of the Blue Devils’ last two games of the regular season, coach Manny Diaz said on Monday, and will redshirt this season with the intent on returning to the team next year.

“The plan for him is to be able to retain his year of eligibility and join us again for next year,” Diaz said, “which will be a great boon for the future of our program.”

Moore entered the season as Duke’s starting running back and suffered an injury early in the second game, at Northwestern. He tried to return a few weeks later against North Carolina and suffered another injury.

So, with football’s four-game redshirt rule, Moore can play against Virginia Tech this weekend or at Wake Forest next weekend and save this season of eligibility. Players can only use that four-game rule to redshirt once; Moore hasn’t used it previously, having played in 35 games across his first three seasons at Duke (2021-23).

Because of a recent change, postseason games — in Duke’s case, whatever bowl game — do not count against the four-game redshirt rule.

“He’s been a tough miss for us this year,” Diaz said. “We think he’s one of the best players on our roster and we’re excited at the idea that we’ll have a chance to welcome him back next year.”

Which game of the next two that Duke uses him will be intriguing. The Blue Devils didn’t play this past weekend, which should have given Star Thomas a chance to rest and Peyton Jones a chance to heal — the former played 56 of 60 snaps against N.C. State before the off week because the latter was injured early against the Wolfpack.

As for next season, Moore’s return should pair well with Jones. Thomas is in his final season of eligibility.

“It’s hard to find guys in the transfer portal, especially with what we request out of our guys here at Duke,” offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer said. “It got to a point where (Moore has) done so much, he’s been such a good player for so long, that he wanted to finish out the right way.

“And finishing out the right way would not be trying to come back and play in two or three games.”

As much as can be assumed in the transfer portal era, Duke has a strong foundation in its backfield next season with Moore and Jones expected to return. The Blue Devils also have Marquise Collins in the mix; he’s played sparingly in the past two seasons. Commit Nate Sheppard has had a strong senior season and could factor in as a freshman, too.