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Devery Hamilton’s 6-foot-7, 301-pound body – particularly his height — appears to be the right fit for Duke’s offensive line. The Blue Devils have historically lacked a highly recruited prototypical left tackle to protect their quarterback’s blind side.
And Hamilton, a Stanford graduate transfer with immediate eligibility, wants to return to tackle after starting four games a year ago at guard (three at left, one at right) before a season-ending ankle injury.
“I’ve been working at tackle both with the ones and twos,” Hamilton said. “Coach (Greg) Frey said we don’t have a depth chart yet so we’re just going out competing every day and playing football. I’m definitely looking forward to playing tackle again. But it’s been great in the past to play every single position except center just to show my versatility. But like you said, my skill set is definitely tailored toward playing tackle. I’m excited to get back to that..”
Frey is Duke’s new offensive line coach, and he’s well acquainted with prototypical size, having coached previously at Florida, Florida State and Michigan. However, he has experience developing talent with lower ranked recruits, too. He spent six years at Indiana, where in 2015 he was won the Frank Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach.
At Duke, Frey is learning to mix four returning starters — including two tackles — with Hamilton as a transfer as well as young talent that includes a trio of 3-star guards entering their redshirt freshmen season.
At left tackle is Casey Holman, a 6-4, 295-pounder redshirt sophomore, at right tackle, Jacob Monk, a 6-3, 305-pound true sophomore. Both started all 12 games a year ago.
The other two returning starters are senior Jack Wohlabaugh (6-4, 305), the anchor as an honorable mention All-ACC pick, and senior right guard Rakavious Chambers (6-3, 310).
Although Holman played left tackle in 2019 and was a backup right tackle in 2018, he worked at guard in 2018 before the depth chart formed and he settled into a backup tackle role.
Does Duke try shifting Holman to right tackle or guard to open left tackle for Hamilton? Or does Holman remain at left tackle and with Hamilton at right tackle and Monk moved to guard.
Duke head coach David Cutcliffe tells his assistant coaches to play the best five and not worry about returning roles or experience. A year ago, Robert Kraeling (6-7, 300) was as a returning starter at right tackle, but Monk beat him out as a true freshman. That meant Monk made his college debut starting against Alabama.
Kraeling, now a senior, provides experience as a backup tackle. Junior Will Taylor (6-3, 285) is a backup center with three starts once Wohlabaugh went down with an injury at the end of last season. Sophomore tackle Peace Addo (6-6, 340) played in six games as a true freshman.
Backup redshirt sophomore guard Maurice McIntyre (6-2, 310) played in all 12 games with one start. The three redshirt freshmen 3-star recruits in the Class of 2019 were Elijah Wroten (6-3, 310), John Gelotte (6-5, 290) and Ron Carr (6-4, 255).
“I think we’re all coming together,” Hamilton said. “The old guys are teaching the young guys. As much as we can off the field, we’re still trying to build that chemistry. It was a little difficult for me being the new guy, but since camp has started the chemistry is coming together. I’m excited to see what we can do this year.”
The lack of a spring football, due to COVID-19, and the late start to fall camp, clouds the picture of a depth chart. Phil Steele Magazine projects a starting O-line of LT, Holman; LG, Monk; C, Wohlabaugh; RG, Chambers; and RT, Hamilton.
Hamilton says he’s fully fit and “ready to go” after a winter and spring of rehab work at Stanford and resuming rehab upon arriving at Duke in the summer. Upon deciding to transfer, he settled quickly on Duke as his new destination.
“I had a great time with the guys here,” he said. “Everybody was welcoming. The coaches and staff were great. Fuquay is a great business school. Football doesn’t last for ever. I have to have a backup plan for however football ends. This well help me down the road.”
At Stanford, he didn’t play in 2016 as a four-star recruit out of Ellicot City (Md.) Gillman, but the past three seasons he has 27 games experience with 10 starts despite an abbreviated 2019 season.
In 2017, he was second-team Academic All-Pac-12 while playing in 12 games. In 2018, he was again second-team Academic All-Pac-12 with three starts at left guard, two at right guard and one at left tackle. Had he returned to Stanford in 2020, he likely would have been pegged as a guard again. Redshirt junior tackles Walker Little (6-7, 320) and Sarell Foster (6-7, 330) are both returning starters.
Wherever Hamilton settles at Duke, he’s at least on a football field – for now. Stanford, of course, is among the Pac-12 and Big Ten schools that shut down football in the fall, due to the pandemic, while the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are moving forward.
“My mentality is that you know everything happens for a reason,” Hamilton said. “There’s a bigger picture to everything. Sometimes there are going to be obstacles or hard times in front of you, but you just got to weather the storm. You know when I decided to transfer back in December or January, we didn’t know that all this was going to happen. But you know, I’m glad that I’m here. I’m glad that the ACC is still trying to move forward with this as safely as possible. I’m just looking forward to getting back out there with a team. You know that’s our mindset, ready to compete for the same goal.”
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I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055
Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://www.shanahan.report/a/forty-four-underground-railroad-legacy-facts
http://shanahan.report/a/myths-that-grew-out-of-1970-alabama-game-with-usc
http://shanahan.report/a/mystery-solved-in-thornhill-and-namath-myth
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and biographer; “History writes people out of the story. It’s our job to write them back in.”
Raye of Light: Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, The Integration of College Football, and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
https://www.augustpublications.com/
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