How many wins can the Duke football special teams provide? They have a number for that
In an 8-part series, the News & Observer and Herald Sun will be examining Duke’s football depth chart, position by position, as the season opener on Sept. 3 at Charlotte draws near.
While building Duke into a football program that regularly appeared in bowl games during the past decade, David Cutcliffe always held a high appreciation for special teams and the often hidden yardage he said those players provide.
Heading into this season coming off back-to-back losing seasons with no bowl appearances, the Blue Devils appear to be able to count on solid special teams units in their quest to turn things around again.
Cutcliffe and special teams coordinator Kirk Benedict tell their players that group makes a significant impact on winning games.
“Coach Cut and KB, they always harp on the fact that our special teams are going to end up winning at least three games for us during the season,” Duke kicker Charlie Ham said. “We harp on special teams all the time.”
Ham, entering his redshirt sophomore season, is a major part of that. So, too, are graduate student holder Jackson Hubbard, redshirt senior long snapper John Taylor and sophomore punter Porter Wilson. All return to their same roles from last season.
“It helps having specialists — me, Porter, Jack and John — who are helping us out,” Ham said. “We focus on building our brand and our capital with the team so that they can respect special teams more and take it more seriously and it’s not just a joke because special teams are going to win games.”
Ham hit 13 of 15 field goals last season, giving him an 86.7% success rate that tied for second in the ACC. That included made field goals covering 47 and 45 yards. He also made 30 of 32 extra points, carrying a streak of 14 consecutive made extra points into this season.
“I absolutely felt good coming out of my freshman year,” Ham said. “I felt like I did pretty well. I was a little bit nervous coming into the season. Really great to have a redshirt year under my belt (in 2019) with (former kicker) AJ Reed. I knew exactly what was coming toward me and I knew how to deal with everything.”
Ham said he had a solid offseason until a knee injury required surgery in July. But aggressive rehabilitation had him back for August practices and he’s feeling strong.
“I think staying in the training room was the biggest key for me,” Ham said. “They had me in there 3-4 times per day. I’ve had a lot of people in my corner that have put me through good routines, through workouts to get me back as fast as I can.”
Wilson enters his second season as Duke’s punter after averaging 42.94 yards per punt in 2020.
In the return game, sophomore Jaylen Stinson looks to improve on the 20.88 yards he averaged returning kickoffs last season as a freshman.
Seniors Josh Blackwell and Jake Bobo, along with sophomore Jontavis Robertson, are Duke’s top punt returners. Blackwell averaged 10.9 yards per return in 2019 before his average fell to 7.0 yards last season when he played in just two games due to a knee injury.
Projected Duke kicker depth chart
| STARTER | Height | Weight |
| Charlie Ham (SO) | 6-2 | 180 |
| RESERVE | ||
Matt Alswanger (SR) | 5-11 | 190 |
Projected Duke punter depth chart
| STARTER | Height | Weight |
| Porter Wilson (SO) | 6-5 | 225 |
| RESERVE | ||
| Jackson Hubbard (SR) | 6-3 | 180 |
Projected Duke punt return depth chart
| STARTER | Height | Weight |
Josh Blackwell (SR) | 6-0 | 175 |
| RESERVES | ||
Jontavis Robertston (SO) | 5-11 | 195 |
| Jake Bobo | 6-5 | 215 |
Projected Duke kick return depth chart
| STARTER | Height | Weight |
Jaylen Stinson (SO) | 5-8 | 165 |
| RESERVES | ||
Jordan Waters (SO) | 6-1 | 210 |
| Mataeo Durant (SR) | 6-1 | 195 |
Previous Duke preview installments
Wide receivers
Other Triangle ACC previews
Special teams
Wide receivers
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 5:20 AM with the headline "How many wins can the Duke football special teams provide? They have a number for that."