Blackwell played in 37 games (28 starts) during his career, recording 96 tackles, two sacks for loss, one forced fumble, 20 interceptions, and 25 punt returns for 230 yards (9.20). He had two or more tackles in 26 games over the course of his 2,235 career snaps, including a career-high six stops against Wake Forest in 2019. Blackwell’s four pass breakups versus Temple in the 2018 Walk-On’s Independence Bowl set a new record for the Duke bowl game.
In his last season, Blackwell played in all 12 games, starting eleven of them. Along with 35 tackles, one tackle for loss, and seven pass breakups, he matched for the team lead. He recorded three or more tackles in eight games in 689 season snaps, including a season-high five stops in games against Miami and Kansas. Additionally, the native of Buford, Georgia, returned seven punts for 54 yards (7.71).
A few days before the December Early Signing Period began, and without a recruiting staff to help with the turnover, Duke Football saw a coaching change during one of the weakest periods in the recruiting cycle for the upcoming class. However, after Manny Diaz was appointed as the new head coach, there weren’t many decommitments from the Blue Devils’ 2024 recruiting class because the previous staff did such an excellent job of marketing the programme.
Several players are leaving the programme this summer, creating scholarships for new players. To address those voids, the team will prioritise adding linebackers, pass-catching targets, and guys near the line of scrimmage. The programme recognised 38 seniors for their services to the programme on Senior Day against Pittsburgh. There were a combination of scholarship players (26), as well as non-scholarship players (12). Taking into account that the squad finished the season with 85
Using basic algebra, you would arrive at 59 players who were on the roster the previous year. Scholarship players are the maximum number of players permitted by the NCAA. Although it’s a safe estimate, neither the departure of all the players who received recognition nor the return of the ones who did not are guaranteed.
For the time being, let’s assume 59 players return before determining the transfer portal, just to keep things simple. As of this writing, eleven players were using the transfer site to leave Duke. 59 – 11 = 48.
