The Duke football program and its expectations heading into the 2026 campaign look vastly different from what they did just a couple of weeks ago. Head coach Manny Diaz and his staff delivered the first ACC Championship to Durham since 1989 in 2025 and were looking to build on that success.
Now, after probably the most chaotic Transfer Portal situation of any team in college football, the Blue Devils have a ton of new faces in the program, and a ton of old faces on their way out. Nonetheless, the Blue Devils still have some talent coming in to help the program try to protect its ACC crown.
Let’s rank every Transfer Portal acquisition for the Blue Devils from the offseason.
1. QB Walker Eget – San Jose State
Eget might not be the most talented player on this list, but he’s the most important after star QB Darian Mensah elected to hit the portal at the last second. The California native has spent his entire four collegiate years with the Spartans, starting the last two. In 2025, Eget threw for 3,047 yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine interceptions on a 59% completion percentage.
Across his career, Eget has thrown for 5,559 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions on a 57.7% completion percentage. The 6’3″, 223-pound signal caller is the No. 61 QB in the portal according to 247Sports.
2. WR Jared Richardson – Penn
Beyond losing Mensah, Duke also lost top receiver Cooper Barkate to the portal as well. Barkate is another former Ivy League product who came over to Durham, becoming Duke’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Jamison Crowder in 2014…