Duke elevated a 7-5 regular season a year ago by taking advantage of the tiebreaker that placed it into the ACC Championship Game. The Blue Devils knocked off Virginia to capture the program's first outright ACC Title since 1962. Duke followed that up by beating Arizona State in the Sun Bowl to earn their 9th win.
Duke's finish to the year gave it serious momentum heading into 2026.
And then Darian Mensah happened.
At the last minute, despite being locked in with a contract for next season, Duke's star quarterback entered the Transfer Portal and ultimately landed at Miami. Adding insult to injury, Mesah took star WR Cooper Barkate with him.
That left Manny Diaz scrambling to find an experienced quarterback to avoid handing the keys to Dan Mahan too early. Duke ultimately landed San Jose State transfer Walker Eget, who will likely be the starter this year.
Regardless, Duke's hopes now likely rest on the shoulders of rising sophomore RB Nate Sheppard, who will have an even heavier workload than a year ago.
According to ESPN's David Hale, it all starts and stops with Sheppard in 2026:
"Duke's blueprint for success in 2026 begins with tailback Nate Sheppard, who blossomed into one of the most prolific runners in the country," Hale writes.
The weight of Duke's season is on the shoulers of sophomore RB Nate Sheppard
Duke will close out spring practice on Saturday with its annual spring game. The Blue Devils still have a ton of questions heading into next season, but they won't lack for motivation following Mensah's exit.
Retaining Sheppard was a massive win for Diaz. As a freshman a year ago, Sheppard ran for 1132 yards and 11 touchdowns on an impressive 5.7 yards per carry. After only getting 15 carries through the first three games, Sheppard morphed into the bell cow for Duke, earning 12+ carries in every game the rest of the way.
Sheppard rushed for 75+ yards in eight games a year ago. He eclipsed 100+ three times, including a monster effort in the Sun Bowl, where he gouged Arizona State for 170 yards.
Eget can be a solid quarterback for Duke, but he doesn't have the ceiling of Mensah. Duke is going to lean even more on Sheppard in 2026, and he'll have to carry this team.
Diaz found a diamond in the rough in the 2025 recruiting class with Sheppard, and he'll be the focal point of the Blue Devils' offense next year. A reliable running game is a quarterback's best friend. Sheppard will make things easier for Eget or Mahan.
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