The brutal reality for Duke fans to accept is that the Blue Devils downgraded at QB. Even a career season from San Jose State transfer Walker Eget would likely be beneath what Darian Mensah would have provided at quarterback in Durham.
That's a major problem for Manny Diaz to overcome. Because Mensah's brilliance last season covered up quite a few warts for the Blue Devils, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Diaz has long been lauded for his defensive acumen, but Duke finished No. 86 in defensive SP+ last season. They still won nine games and captured their first outright ACC Championship since 1962 thanks to an offense that ranked 19th in the same metric.
But while the ground game should remain prolific with rising sophomore Nate Sheppard and what should be a quality offensive line, it's fair to question whether Eget can provide good enough quarterback play to avoid a massive drop-off. Duke can't afford much of one, unless Diaz's defense takes a major step forward. If it doesn't, and Eget struggles, then Duke could struggle to even garner bowl eligibility, much less compete for the conference crown.
The chasm between Mensah and Eget was well represented by Sports Illustrated's recent ranking of all 68 Power Four quarterbacks in 2026.
Mensah was ranked 5th; Eget 59th.
Duke has a major question mark at quarterback in 2026
This was not expected to be an issue in 2026. Mensah was originally signed to a two-year contract out of the Transfer Portal, and there seemed to be little concern that he wouldn't be back in Durham for year two.
That's what led to the angst and vitriol from the Duke side when Mensah entered the portal at the 11th hour and transferred to Miami.
Diaz had few options to choose from so late in the game. He did well to add Eget, a veteran QB with a lot of starting experience. But it's a downgrade, no matter which way you slice it. It was always going to be a downgrade.
While Eget is the projected starter, that's not a foregone conclusion. Diaz and the coaching staff are high on sophomore Dan Mahan, and he's very much still in the competition. He'll battle with Eget this fall, though the expectation is that Eget's experience will be too much for Mahan to overcome.
Regardless of who is under center, Duke is going to need to perform better in every aspect of the game to lift up the QB. Neither Eget nor Mahan is going to increase the ceiling in the way that Mensah did.
It's on Diaz to figure out how to lift the rest of the roster so that Duke doesn't take a massive step backward in 2026 and lose the program's momentum.
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