There was an obvious weakness on Duke‘s defense last season, and it came in the secondary, with the Blue Devils allowing 276.8 passing yards per game, good for 134th out of 136 teams in the FBS.
Manny Diaz has made it clear that playing time in this year’s secondary is up for grabs for everyone.
“There are no jobs claimed in the secondary, so everybody understands that every time there’s a ball thrown, someone has a chance to earn playing time this year,” Diaz said.
To fix what ailed Duke last season, Diaz and his staff brought some talent in from the portal, including Che Ojarikre (Stanford), Dylan Flowers (Western Kentucky), and Kyon Loud (Montana), who will all have a chance to win spots at the cornerback position. Ojarikre could also be seen as Chandler Rivers’ replacement at nickel after the latter took his talents to the NFL.
At safety, DaShawn Stone and Andrew Pellicciotta return but will be challenged for playing time by Patrick Smith-Young, who started 25 games between his time at North Texas and Old Dominion.
Much like other competitions, Diaz knows that there will be some growing pains.
“There will be ups and downs over the next three weeks, but I think the ones who are the most urgent day to day will probably be the ones who roll out there first against Tulane,” Diaz said.
This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Manny Diaz: Playing time in Duke secondary wide open
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