Ranking the top 5 Duke Blue Devils quarterbacks of all time
Ranking the top five Duke quarterbacks isn't easy. That's because the list of the best passers in Blue Devil history is littered with good but not elite players.
Overall, there have been 13 Duke quarterbacks selected in the NFL Draft. However, five of those players saw their college careers end prior to the AFL/NFL merger in 1970.
What's more, Duke hasn't really been known as a hotbed of quarterback play. The program hasn't ever had a QB finish in the top ten of the Heisman Trophy balloting nor has it had a QB named a consensus All-American.
Still, there have been a number of quality signal callers to call Durham home. So let's take a look at the five best Duke QBs of all time.
. player. Duke. 5. . 2009-12. Sean Renfree. . 434. Sean Renfree
Checking in at No. 5 on our countdown is Sean Renfree, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona who was a 4-star recruit in the class of 2008. He picked the Blue Devils over offers from Nebraska, Arizona State, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Oregon State, and Stanford.
Unfortunately, he would suffer a torn ACL as a freshman in 2009 limiting his season to just five games. As a sophomore, he started 11 of 12 games and was and was voted Duke's Most Valuable Player. That year, he completed 285 of 464 pass attempts for 3,131 yards with 14 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
As a junior, Renfree started all 12 games and completed 282 of 434 pass attempts for 2,891 yards with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His 65.0% completion rate set the Duke single-season record for pass completion percentage.
In 2012, Renfree completed 297 of 442 passes for 3,113 yards, 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. What's more, he again set the single-season completion percentage record at Duke at 67.3%. He ended his career owning or sharing 14 school records and earned the team's MVP award for a second time.
Again an injury would cause his career to take a detour, though. A torn right pectoral muscle in his throwing arm on the last play of Duke's final game required surgery and, as a result, he was unable to participate in the NFL Combine or the pre-draft process limiting his draft stock.
At the next level, he would have brief stints with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers though he would appear in only two games in the NFL. An accurate passer who ended his career with 9,4656 yards and 51 TDs, he doesn't get the recognition he deserves but given that he never managed a winning record during his time in Durham, he doesn't rank any higher on our list.