Duke depth chart breakdown - quarterback: Who’s the favorite to start vs. Notre Dame?
Duke coach David Cutcliffe likes to think of his quarterback as a game manager and now must decide who to promote.
Cutcliffe has three choices: Chris Katrenick, Gunnar Holmberg and Chase Brice. One will be the starter when the Blue Devils, if all goes as planned, open the 2020 football season on Sept. 12 at Notre Dame.
Few clues are leaking out of the Duke camp as to which of the three has the edge. Cutcliffe, on his weekly radio show Wednesday, said no decision had been made on a starter. Offensive lineman Jacob Monk, on a media call Thursday, was asked about the play of the QBs in practice and said all three were “looking amazing.”
Get the idea? Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly and his defensive staff can keep on guessing.
Only Cutcliffe knows how much of the uncertainty at quarterback played into his decision this season to take over the offensive play-calling, from the sideline. But he is closing any play-calling communication gaps that might crop up during games. He will directly manage the manager.
With condensed time in fall camp amid myriad health and safety testing and considerations, the evaluation of the QBs has been both shorter and tougher. A year ago, no problem. Quentin Harris went into the fall as the starter. Before that, Daniel Jones.
Cutcliffe said it’s likely he will play more than one quarterback in games, although using the second QB could be more situational. As for who those two will be ...
Who is expected to start?
Outside the program, it’s anyone’s guess. Maybe inside the program, too.
Brice was a part of Clemson’s 2018 national championship run, albeit as the backup to quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The redshirt junior is an accurate passer and has the size at 6-3 and 235 pounds to be a factor in Duke’s running game.
A year ago, Brice passed for 581 yards and four touchdowns for the Tigers while rushing 14 times for 94 yards and a TD. In 2018, when Lawrence was injured against Syracuse, he came in to lead a 94-yard scoring drive in Clemson’s comeback win. He has the tools.
The downside: Brice, who has 384 snaps and 25 games of college experience, transferred to Duke in July and has been playing catchup in learning the offense and Cutcliffe’s way of handling things at the position.
The feeling is Brice didn’t transfer to Duke to stand next to Cutcliffe on the sideline, a backup again. But he must beat out the other two.
Who are the key reserves?
Katrenick, a redshirt junior, has not started a game but been in seven the past two years at Duke. He’s well-versed in the offense and has performed well enough in fall camp to be called the best manager of the offense by Cutcliffe.
Holmberg, who played at Heritage High in Wake Forest, missed last season after a knee injury in fall camp. Cutcliffe calls the redshirt sophomore a fast, skilled type who can throw the ball well on the run.
Another quarterback, freshman Luca Diamont, is expected to be redshirted.
Who might surprise us?
It could be Holmberg. Few should be itching to play more than the redshirt sophomore, who got three snaps in the 2018 Independence Bowl — his only game action that season — and then had the injury last fall.
Holmberg has a strong athletic pedigree in his family. His father wrestled in college. An uncle played football at Penn State and in the NFL. And his great uncle was the late George Blanda, the former AFL and NFL quarterback who played 26 pro seasons.
What are the strengths of the group?
All three — Brice, Katrenick and Holmberg — have good size and can move. They have a head coach who has long been called a quarterback guru, a man who knows how to prepare his starter to properly manage a game.
At Duke, the quarterback has to make quick decisions. Cutcliffe will pick the guy who makes the best ones.
What are the weaknesses of the group?
Total college starts: zero. That’s the starting point in discussing Duke’s group of quarterbacks.
Brice has been a part of one of the best programs in college football, playing behind a great quarterback. He now has the chance to change his football narrative with Duke.
Katrenick knows the offensive system. So does Holmberg, but he’s coming off the knee injury.
Is there a good game manager in the group? That remains to be seen, on the field. And Duke is coming off a season when it averaged 179 yards passing a game, its lowest total since Cutcliffe took over the program in 2008.
As Cutcliffe put it, “I’ve got to fix the quarterback thing.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Duke depth chart breakdown - quarterback: Who’s the favorite to start vs. Notre Dame?."
