Duke Football: Five Predictions For The Next Five Years

Duke had a somewhat disappointing year in 2016 but that’s relative - before David Cutcliffe showed up a four-win season would have thrilled Duke fans.

And injuries played a huge role as Duke lost several key players including senior co-captains quarterback Thomas Sirk and ace safety/cornerback DeVon Edwards.

Even so, Duke came within six points of another winning season after losing to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech by three points each.

So what does the future hold? Here are five predictions:

1. Daniel Jones will emerge as a top 10 college quarterback and a highly promising NFL prospect.
2. Duke’s defense was very young this season but DC Jim Knowles said his Duke defense makes the fastest defensive play calls in the country. A lot of that is down to sophomore Ben Humphries who runs the show. As the defense matures and the recruiting improves, Duke’s defense is going to become really aggressive, mobile and imposing.
3. Duke is wrapping up a Top 25 recruiting class. The Blue Devils will be increasingly athletic.
4. Former Duke coordinator Scotty Montgomery will do a bang-up job at ECU and will be pegged as David Cutcliffe’s eventual successor.
5. In 2010, David Cutcliffe somehow persuaded Alabama to visit Wallace Wade. The results were predictable: the Tide rolled (sorry) 62-13. After the game, RB Mark Ingram said this: "We always approach every game the same way: Just come in, wanting to dominate the opponent, make them never want to play us ever again. That's the mindset we want them to have when we leave." Didn’t work: Duke and Alabama will open the season in 2019 when Jones is a junior and Humphries a senior. These programs are still on different levels but Alabama better not look past Duke in that game because the Blue Devils are going to be be vastly improved.