Duke football’s quarterback carousel grinds to a halt again. Next up, Gunnar Holmberg
This is the final installment of an 8-part series of the News & Observer and Herald Sun position-by-position examination of Duke’s football depth chart leading into the season opener on Friday at Charlotte.
Two years of subpar quarterback play saddled Duke with not only consecutive losing records, but a 2-9 thud of a season last fall that cast doubt if the Blue Devils could return to a bowl game any time soon.
In that breach steps Gunnar Holmberg, an unknown entity around the ACC who is nevertheless a familiar voice at Duke.
The only ACC starting quarterback who enters this season having yet to start a college game, he’ll be Duke’s fourth starting quarterback in four years.
But, importantly, he’s been inside Duke’s program for all four of those seasons, beginning as a deep reserve behind Daniel Jones in 2018.
He’s tasked with stabilizing a Duke offense that’s lagged terribly while the team went 7-16 the last two seasons.
The first job? Throw the ball to Duke players, rather than the opposition, after Chase Brice threw 15 interceptions in 11 games during his lone season as the Blue Devils starting quarterback.
“On offense, we’re trying to be aggressive but not dumb,” said Holmberg, who starred at Wake Forest Heritage High before matriculating to Duke. “I think that’s the key. Take your shots when you can. Be explosive when you can. But don’t force something is really the key.”
Holmberg has advantages this season that Brice never had following his transfer from Clemson last year.
Holmberg enrolled at Duke in January 2018 so, even though he missed all of 2019 with a knee injury, he’s well-versed in Duke’s offensive system. He knows his teammates and they know him.
As for those teammates, Duke returns three starting wide receivers in Jalon Calhoun, Eli Pancol and Jake Bobo plus has one of the top running backs in the ACC in senior Mataeo Durant.
Plus Jack Wohlabaugh, an all-ACC candidate in 2020 who missed the entire season with a knee injury, is healthy and anchoring the offensive line.
Whether it’s via the run or the pass, Holmberg has shown the ability, in practices anyway, to help the Blue Devils.
“Gunner brings a whole different skill set to the table than we had last year or in years before,” Wohlabaugh said. “He can move outside the pocket and he’s able to throw the ball as well so the defense has to respect him if he wants to take off and run or throw. He’s been a really good leader and picked up the plays well. He knows the offense and has bonded with the offense really well.”
Holmberg made his college debut in the fourth quarter of Duke’s 56-27 Independence Bowl win over Temple in December 2018. He played in six games last season behind Brice, completing 18 of 25 passes (72 percent) but also throwing two interceptions.
Brice’s passer rating, a measure of a quarterback’s efficiency that takes into account passes attempted, completions, interceptions and touchdown throws, was 107.48. That’s the worst passer rating for any Duke quarterback since the metric became available in 2009.
In 2019, when Duke went 5-7, Quentin Harris produced a 116.07 passer rating.
In 2018, Jones led Duke to an 8-5 record with a passer rating of 131.69 leading the New York Giants to select him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
In 2013 when Duke went 10-4 and won the ACC Coastal Division, Anthony Boone’s passer rating was 128.19.
So those are the figures Holmberg is working to attain to help return Duke to the level of play that produced six bowl appearances in seven seasons, with three bowl victories, between 2012-2018.
Duke coach David Cutcliffe said his goals are 100% execution in decision making and 100% in ball security for Holmberg. While saying Holmberg hasn’t met that in preseason practices and scrimmages, Cutcliffe described Holmberg as a willing listener and learner who implements needed changes.
“Gunner is coming along like I would expect him to,” Cutcliffe said. “I think he’s throwing the ball extremely well. He’s got a great spirit about him and he has a lot of ability.”
Behind Holmberg, the Blue Devils have even less experience. Luca Diamont, who played in one game as a true freshman last season, will back up Holmberg. True freshmen Riley Leonard and Jordan Moore both have bright futures in the program but are just getting adjusted to the college game.
Projected Duke quarterback depth chart
| STARTER | Height | Weight |
| Gunnar Holmberg (JR) | 6-3 | 205 |
| RESERVES | ||
| Luca Diamont (FR) | 6-3 | 190 |
| Riley Leonard (FR) | 6-4 | 205 |
| Jordan Moore (FR) | 6-2 | 180 |
Previous Duke preview installments
Offensive line
Running backs
Defensive line
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Wide receivers
Special teams
Offensive line
Other Triangle ACC previews
Quarterback
Offensive line
Running backs
Defensive line
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
Wide receivers
This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Duke football’s quarterback carousel grinds to a halt again. Next up, Gunnar Holmberg."