Duke Football 2026 Top 30 Players Countdown: No. 14
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
The Duke football program is inching closer to beginning their 2026 training camp ahead of a regular season filled with tons of uncertainty for the Blue Devils.
Head coach Manny Diaz will have to exceed preseason expectations once again in his third year with the program to be competitive, but he has accomplished that in each of his first two years at the helm.
In 2024, Diaz brought the Blue Devils to nine wins in his inaugural campaign in Durham, just the fourth season of nine or more wins since Duke joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953.
He also became the second Duke football head coach to achieve nine wins in his first season at the helm, joining Mike Elko in 2022, who is now at Texas A&M.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Blue Devils have new faces everywhere. A new starting quarterback, new main offensive weapons, new tight ends, and new players on the offensive line.
After the sudden transfer of former Duke star quarterback Darian Mensah, the Blue Devils will need a stout offensive line to protect new starting signal caller, San Jose State transfer Walker Eget.
Eget has shown promise throughout his career, but this will be his first collegiate campaign at the Power Conference level. He has spent the previous four years with the Spartans, serving as the team's starter for two of them.
Diaz and Co. had to tap into the transfer portal to find new mainstays on the offensive line, such as California transfer Braden Miller (No. 15 in our top 30 players list) and Coastal Carolina transfer Nick Del Grande, who we will get into later in this series.
That duo will be replacing Brian Parker II and Bruno Fina, who were the team's starting right tackle and left tackle, respectively.
Duke's offensive line has been solid under Diaz, but now faces a lot of uncertainty amid offseason roster turnover. The portal additions Duke is bringing in show a lot of promise, but the returning offensive linemen stepping into a bigger role in 2026 must carry their weight as well.
I have high hopes for the Blue Devils' offensive line in 2026, but it is a unit that must be consistent as Eget adjusts to the Power Conference level, especially early in the season. We continue our Duke football top 30 players countdown with a returning offensive lineman set up to be a crucial part of Duke's success in 2026.
Duke Football 2026 Top 30 Players Countdown: No. 14 C Matt Craycraft
Redshirt senior Matt Craycraft has been with Duke for his entire collegiate career and will be the Week 1 starting center for the Blue Devils.
Craycraft was a promising recruit coming out of high school and was a major land for Elko at the time. Rated as a 3-star recruit, the Dallas native was ranked as the No. 1,147 overall player, No. 108 offensive tackle, and No. 162 player out of the state of Texas, according to the 247Sports 2022 Composite Rankings.
Craycraft held offers from Power Conference programs such as Maryland, Mississippi State, and Colorado, but ultimately elected to head to Durham.
He didn't have much of an opportunity early in his career, which is to be expected. Craycraft didn't appear in a single game as a true freshman in 2022, utilizing his redshirt year.
In 2023, he started to get some time on the field, making nine appearances and starting his first career outing as a redshirt freshman. However, it was the 2024 campaign where Craycraft became a mainstay on the offensive line for the Blue Devils.
As a redshirt sophomore, Craycraft started all 13 games for a Duke offensive line that ranked second in the ACC in sacks allowed (12). Both of Duke's lines were stellar in 2024, a major reason the Blue Devils secured nine wins and earned an appearance in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Ole Miss.
Craycraft returned to the Blue Devils in 2025, where he was once again a regular starter in Year 2 under Diaz. He started all 14 games at center for a Duke offense that was one of the best in program history.
The Blue Devils led the ACC in points per game (34.6) en route to securing the program's first ACC title since 1989. Mensah was the best quarterback in the conference last season, and Craycraft at center was a huge part of that. According to Pro Football Focus, Craycraft had the ninth-highest total offense grade among ACC centers (68.4).
Heading into Craycraft's redshirt senior year at Duke, he will once again lead the offensive charge at center and has some lofty expectations to his name heading into the year. Craycraft was a Third Team Preseason All-ACC selection, according to Phil Steele.
Statistically, the Duke offensive line took a step back last season, despite its success, and the individual success of Craycraft. The Blue Devils allowed 28 sacks, good for 11th in the ACC. But heading into 2026, there is plenty of room for optimism with the offensive line group in Durham.
Duke's offense this season will run through true sophomore running back Nate Sheppard, who broke onto the scene as one of the best running backs in the entire country as a rookie. He now heads into 2026 with the expectations to push for being a top-10 back in all of college football.
Guys like Miller, Del Grande, and Craycraft will lead the charge for an offense that has a lot of question marks, but boasts an elite running back at the center.
Craycraft will start at center, Miller will start at right tackle, Del Grande will start at left tackle, and the guard spots will likely be occupied by Jordan Larsen and Bradley Smith.
Other Top 30 Stories:
No. 30 WR Jaivon Solomon|No. 29 RB CJ Campbell|No. 28 QB Dan Mahan|No. 27 DT Preston Watson|No. 26 DT Owen Wafle|No. 25 IOL Sean Stover|No. 24 DE Kevin O'Connor|No. 23 CB Landan Callahan|No. 22 WR Javen Nicholas|No. 21 CB Kyon Loud
No. 20 S Andrew Pellicciotta|No. 19 CB Che Ojarikre|No. 18 LB Kendall Johnson|No. 17 QB Walker Eget|No. 16 CB Dylan Flowers | No. 15 OT Braden Miller
Today's best reads
- Duke Football 2026 Top 30 Players Countdown: No. 18
- The Two Duke Football Newcomers Battling for WR1 Spot
- Duke Football's Revenge Game With Miami Involves More Than Mensah
- Everything Duke Fans Need To Know for 2026 ACC Kickoff
- Duke Football 2026 Top 30 Players Countdown: No. 16
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/duke as Duke Football 2026 Top 30 Players Countdown: No. 14.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos