You couldn't have asked for a better start to the 2026 season for Duke. Coming into the year with significant doubts after Darian Mensah's transfer to Miami, the Blue Devils have outperformed any reasonable expectations so far with a 4-0 start to the campaign.
Duke opened the year with back-to-back wins over teams it lost to last season, knocking off Tulane at home and then earning an impressive road win over Illinois. They followed that up by blowing out Stanford and William & Mary at home in consecutive weeks before this well-timed bye separates them from eight straight ACC matchups.
Duke may still be fighting for respect nationally - they remain unranked in the AP Poll, somehow - but that's A-okay for Manny Diaz, who can continue to use it as motivation for a team used to being doubted.
With the bye week here, let's reexamine the first four weeks with guys trending up and some trending down.
Trending Up: Nate Sheppard
We all knew Nate Sheppard was a star, but even those with the most Duke-colored glasses probably didn't see this coming. Sheppard is the nation's leading rusher after four weeks, putting up an absurd 644 yards and six touchdowns on 7.1 yards per carry.
He's doing all that despite being at the top of the opposing game plan, and with Duke's passing offense still very much a work in progress.
He's in the thick of the Heisman Trophy race, and if Duke continues its winning ways and establishes itself as a legitimate threat to make the College Football Playoff, his chances in the race will continue to skyrocket.
Trending Up: Duke's offensive line
We looked at Duke's veteran offensive line as a strength of the team heading into the season, and through four games, that has proven true.
Duke ranks 9th in the country in rushing yards per game despite the lack of threat in the passing game.
Just as impressive, Duke has only allowed one single sack so far this season, and that's with San Jose State transfer Walker Eget, not known for his mobility, taking the majority of the snaps at quarterback.
While Sheppard gets the bulk of the offensive credit, he'd be the first to praise his offensive line for opening up rush lanes.
Trending Up: Jeremiah Hasley
Another guy we knew in the preseason would be great, but Jeremiah Hasley has been awesome for the Blue Devils so far in 2026. The senior hasn't found the endzone yet, but he's Duke's leading receiver with 195 yards on 13 receptions.
He's also, obviously, been incredible as a blocker. He's a versatile chess piece in Jonathan Brewer's offense. He gets moved all around the formation, and he just makes plays, whether that is with the ball in his hands or if he's opening up a lane for Sheppard to run through.
His leadership is invaluable, too.
Trending Up: Duke's pass rush
The Blue Devils had to replace a lot of talent on the edge, but the new group up front hasn't skipped a beat. Duke has produced 11 sacks through four games. Bradey Gompers leads the way with three after his two-sack day against William & Mary, but Bryce Davis, Tyshon Reed, and Kevin O'Connor have all registered multiple sacks this year, too.
The most encouraging part for Diaz and DC Jonathan Patke is that the production isn't coming from one single player. They are getting it from multiple sources, which makes it a lot more difficult for offenses to game plan against.
Trending Down: 2 transfer WRs
Duke added a trio of transfer wide receivers out of the portal with Jared Richardson, Javen Nicholas, and Jonah Burton. Most projections for the 2026 season had Richardson and Nicholas as the top two receivers in the pecking order due to their previous experience and production.
That hasn't been the case so far.
Nicholas started the year banged up and has been back for the past two games, but has failed to make an impact with just one catch for -1 yards. Richardson finally got into the endzone last week against William & Mary, but he has just five receptions for 82 yards through four games.
Burton has surprisingly been the No. 1 WR so far, catching 13 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.
In a run-first offensive system, and with the young WRs continuing to develop and shine, opportunities may not increase going forward for Richardson and Nicholas.
Trending Down: CB Landan Callahan
One of the casualties of Diaz's work to rebuild the secondary has been Callahan, who was a starter last year but fell down the depth chart with the portal additions that Duke made.
Callahan was listed in the preseason as a co-starter at CB with transfer Dylan Flowers, but Flowers has started each game so far and gotten the lion's share of the snaps.
The moves have paid off, though. Duke's secondary has improved leaps and bounds from where it was last year.
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