Eli Pancol to miss “significant time” after undergoing surgery
Blue Devils will be without one of the their top perimeter targets
DURHAM – Duke will be without wide receiver Eli Pancol after he underwent surgery this week, coach Mike Elko said after Friday’s practice.
“Eli Pancol unfortunately had surgery the other night, he had a lower body deal,” Elko said. “He’s probably going to miss significant time this year.”
It’s a tough blow for a fifth-year receiver who missed a chunk of last season with a lower body injury, too. Pancol started Duke’s first eight games last season but missed November. He returned for the Military Bowl and finished the season with 23 catches for a career-best 347 yards.
The 6-3, 205-pounder was in line to either start or play significant snaps this season at a position where Duke is loaded with returning players.
“We’ll help him recover and we’ll help him get better, but he’s going to be down for a while,” Elko said.
Duke still benefits from returning starters Jalon Calhoun and Jordan Moore, and Sahmir Hagans had a strong performance at the end of last season when Pancol was injured. That trio has looked good throughout fall camp, and the Blue Devils also return key reserves Jontavis Robertson and Malik Bowen-Sims.
The goal is to have at least six playable receivers, though. That means one from the grouping of Mehki Wall, Apollos Cook, Spencer Jones or Sean Brown — all of whom Elko named — will be called upon to step into a larger role.
“With somebody going down, it’s opportunity for young guys to step up,” Moore said. “So, we’re all doing the best we can to get the young guys ready to step up. … They’re eager to learn and they’re going to have to step up, the opportunity is right in front of them.”
Of that quartet of younger players, Cook (6-3, 209) and Jones (6-4, 197) are the two with size similar to Pancol. Of the five solidified in Duke's rotation, only Moore (6-foot, 195) and Bowen-Sims (6-2, 198) are at least 6-foot.