Manny Diaz’s breakout star could start flying up NFL Draft boards after his Week 2 performance

As a longtime defensive coordinator and second-time head coach, Manny Diaz has overseen the development of plenty of great edge rushers, and on Saturday in Duke’s Week 2 loss to Illinois, he may have caught the first glimpse of the next one finally breaking out. At 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, Vincent Anthony Jr. has always had the physical tools to be a difference maker at defensive end, and in the first half, especially, he put them to good use. 

Anthony quickly racked up four quarterback pressures and converted three of them for sacks of Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer. While Duke failed to cement itself as a dark horse College Football Playoff contender against a top 12-ranked opponent, Diaz’s senior defensive end did use the showcase to enter the conversation for the 2026 NFL Draft. 

Vincent Anthony Jr. named a top NFL Draft riser after three-sack performance

On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated’s Daniel Flick featured Anthony as one of his biggest NFL Draft risers from Week 2 of the college football season, writing, “He pairs quality snap anticipation with long strides, enabling him to beat tackles to the top of the arc, and he has enough bend to flatten his path to the quarterback. Anthony is lanky, and while he lacks elite athleticism, he’s a solid mover in pursuit with adequate closing speed.”

Flick still views Anthony as a Day 3 pick, meaning Round 4 or beyond, but coming into the season, there was no certainty that Anthony would hear his name called in Pittsburgh this spring at all. 

The veteran was a modest contributor last season, Diaz’s first year leading the program, playing nearly 500 defensive snaps and amassing 36 quarterback pressures, but merely five sacks. He met half that total on Saturday against a veteran Illinois offensive line, repeatedly victimizing left tackle J.C. Davis, who is a three-year starter between Illinois and New Mexico, and has nearly played 2,500 collegiate snaps. That’s not quite NFL-caliber competition, but it’s a valuable data point for interested teams that want to see how Anthony can fare against experienced offensive tackles. 

It’s not just that Anthony finished well on Saturday. He also won consistently and displayed an impressive pass-rush plan. He managed a 20 percent pass-rush win rate, a significant improvement from 12.5 percent last season, and was ultimately named the ACC Player of the Week for his dominant outing, even in a lopsided loss. 

Anthony will need to string together more impressive performances, but now that he’s on scouts' radars so early in the season, he has plenty of opportunities to impress them and potentially climb up into Day 2 of the draft.