RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesDuke football 's quarterback competition won't be decided by highlight throws or spectacular plays.
Third-year head coach Manny Diaz discussed his evaluation process when it came to naming a starter on the Blue Devils opening day of fall camp on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Duke has San Jose State transfer Walker Eget and redshirt freshman Dan Mahan competing for the starting spot following Darian Mensah's transfer to Miami in January.
"There's always two pieces to the puzzle, right?" Diaz said. "The first thing is what's the foundation. Who minimizes the negative plays that could get us beat. Protect the football, decision making, those type things. Then after that, it's who can maximize the ways to help us win games."
Diaz again pointed to the history of Duke's offensive system: its two years at Duke, two years at SMU with offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer and two years before that when the duo were together at Miami with Rhett Lashlee.
"We've actually had six different quarterbacks play for us in six years, and all of those quarterbacks average over two touchdown passes per game," Diaz said. "... I think our guys have confidence in how we throw the football. We've broken school records in two different years with two different styles of quarterback. We have two more different styles of quarterback this year. But I think they see the production, and I think our team is excited about whoever it is."
Eget and Mahan both traded first-team reps Wednesday morning at Duke's opening practice. Eget was recently cleared for fall camp after undergoing ACL surgery and did not participate in spring practice.
"You've got one guy who's got a lot of promise who hasn't done it yet," Diaz said. "One guy has a lot of production, who's just getting into our offense and learning."
Diaz does not have a timeline in place when it comes to naming a starter.
"If it's an hour before kickoff that would be great, if it's anything earlier than that that would be great too," Diaz said. "We have to see, and we have to get through this training camp."
Duke has 18 more fall practices before it opens its 2026 season at home on Saturday, Sept. 5 against Tulane (3:30 p.m. ET).
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How Manny Diaz is evaluating Duke football's quarterback competition
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