Biggest Winners and Losers From Duke Football's First Scrimmage
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The Duke football program recently had the first scrimmage of its 2026 fall training camp, and there is plenty to take away from the action.
Over the next few weeks, head coach Manny Diaz and his staff have a lot of roster decisions to make before the Blue Devils begin their regular-season schedule against Tulane on Sep. 5 at Wallace Wade Stadium. At this point in camp, it feels like many position groups on the roster are still wide open.
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However, there was still a lot to take away from Duke's first scrimmage of the fall. Time will tell how pivotal some of these performances were in terms of earning starting spots, but let's go over some of the biggest winners and losers of the team's first scrimmage.
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Winner: Jaivon Solomon
Duke's wide receiver room might be the biggest question mark on the entire team. Penn transfer Jared Richardson and Charlotte transfer Javen Nicholas are generally expected to be the club's top two wideouts in 2026, but the WR3 spot is open for the taking.
Young returners Jaivon Solomon, Jamien Little, and Jayden Moore feel like the next guys up, and it likely will be one of that trio who eventually earns the third starting wide receiver spot. Moore is the only receiver of those three to have caught a pass in a game last season, but it was Solomon who turned heads in the scrimmage.
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The redshirt freshman snagged three passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns. The Blue Devils compiled four receiving touchdowns in the scrimmage, and Solomon produced half of them.
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Winner: Secondary Unit
Duke's secondary room has plenty of open slots. Earlier in camp, Diaz highlighted that there are no set starters at the position.
"I think you can see even just from today that there's a sense of purpose," Diaz said. "Right, every time that ball's in the air from our secondary. There are no jobs claimed in the secondary. So everybody understands that every time there's a ball thrown, someone's got a chance to earn playing time this year."
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Although the depth chart still might remain to be decided, the secondary seemed to have performed well in the scrimmage. The unit forced five pass breakups and two interceptions.
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Winner: Jonathan Brewer
Duke offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer helped produce the best offensive unit in the ACC last season. The Blue Devils led the conference in points per game (34.6) and total touchdowns (63). It seems like the unit has a lot of potential heading into 2026 despite heavy turnover.
We have already discussed the passing attack, but the run game was effective as well, and it could be deep. The RB room as a whole tallied 42 carries for 213 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per run. Yale transfer Wilhelm Daal II led the way with 12 carries for 62 yards, but seven different backs had at least six carries.
Duke will likely have to lean on the run game this fall, and it looks promising.
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Losers: Walker Eget and Dan Mahan
The Blue Devils are in the midst of a starting quarterback battle between San Jose State transfer Walker Eget and redshirt freshman Dan Mahan.
Although the offense put together explosive plays, neither QB was mentioned as potentially separating themselves in the race. I still believe Eget will win the job, but the competition could be tight.
Today's best reads
- Biggest Takeaways From Duke Football's First Scrimmage
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/duke as Biggest Winners and Losers From Duke Football's First Scrimmage.
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