Signing Day Drama for Duke: Jontavis Robertson
Duke coach David Cutcliffe likes his National Signing Days to be dull, with all the work long since completed. Instead of just waiting through the formality of all the National Letters of Intent arriving this year, however, Cutcliffe and Duke appear to be going down to the wire.
With less than a week to go until the start of the early signing period, Duke has 12 commitments and is still actively making offers and hosting prospects.
In an ongoing series, we look at some of the work Duke is still doing as it has some unfamiliar signing day drama.
Today, we look at another wide receiver on Duke’s radar—Jontavis Robertson.
The six-foot, 180 pounder out of Gray, Georgia’s Jones County High is a three-star prospect who 247Sports rates the 810 best prospect in the class and No. 125 at wide receiver.
According to recruiting trail scuttlebutt, Robertson was hoping to stay close to home and play at the University of Georgia. He originally had an official visit scheduled for Dec. 13, a few days before the signing period.
Instead, it appears he’ll be taking an official to Duke over that weekend. It’s not clear whether Georgia went in another direction or what exactly happened, but the consensus is that Robertson will be deciding between the Blue Devils and Indiana, where he took an official visit last weekend, on Signing Day.
Duke has certainly been putting in work on Robertson. Wide receiver coach Trooper Taylor has been a frequent visitor to the Robertson home.
Most recently, he brought along coach Cutcliffe for the visit.
Robertson is an explosive talent at wide receiver who has another gear once he finds open space. He also excels at reaching that space with quick moves in traffic.
His highlight film features several punt return scores where he's able to maneuver in traffic and find open space. He can also use his speed and quickness to leave defenders behind on long passes.
All you really need to know about Robertson, however, is that three of the plays on his highlight film are of him blocking downfield on passes to teammates. He's a hard-nosed blocker who takes defenders out of the play and doesn't stop until the whistle.
Indiana was in earlier, and there's always the threat that Georgia will swoop in, but Duke seems to be in solid position going into the final stretch.
