David Cutcliffe Impressed With Duke's Offense

Duke coach David Cutcliffe is taking a more active role in the offense this year, including calling plays for the Blue Devils. He gives his initial impressions of that side of the ball, a little over two weeks into fall practice, listing the positives.

“Well, I think a number of things,” he said. “Certainly, our backs have gotten off to a great start. Deon (Jackson) and Mateo (Durant) are participating in practice at a high level. We’re not real deep right there. Jordan Waters, right now, has done really well. We’re thrilled with that. Tight end, starting with Noah Gray—without question, he’s a talented playmaker. I’m excited about the offensive line. We’ve already made progress under (new line coach) Greg Frey. We mentioned Jack (Wohlabaugh, center). We’ve got Jake (Jacob Monk) and others who are competing at a high level—Casey Holman. Across the board, as I said, there is extreme competition at all the positions on the offensive line. It’s one of those areas.”

Another area with plenty of competition are the skill positions that will make up Duke’s passing game. “Our receivers—Damond (Philyaw-Johnson)—our starters are Jake Bobo, Damond and Jalon Calhoun. I think that the competition there—the feeling is it’s going to make us better,” Cutcliffe said. “The quarterback position, we’re playing pretty well. We’re playing pretty well. We’re working three guys. Chris Katrenick is running with the ones. Gunnar Holmberg and Chase Brice are working reps intermittently after that. So we’re pleased with where we are offensively.”