Duke - Expectations for this year?

[jakeman1]

He will definitely need to gain about 10lbs of muscle to even be playable. Remeber miller redshirted, but base on our needs he will have to get on the field somehow

Thomas De'Anthony is listed at 5'9" 173lbs right now on Oregon's roster. He rushed 55 times for 600 yards and 7 TD's as a true freshman last year. "Duke" Johnson is 5'9" and 183lbs right now and could be closer to 185-187lbs by the time the season starts. "Duke" is more than ready to get some PT as a True Freshman this year and is every bit as good or better than Thomas De'Anthony.

Also, Miller shirted because he separated his shoulder in HS and wasn't ready to go as a freshman or RS Freshman. You could still see the shoulder injury linger when he would go out of bounds rather than fight that last yard last season. If Miller was healthy he would have played as a true freshman. Duke will touch the ball plenty this year.

good comparison. i think Duke comes in with his packages to get him the ball and allow him to be fresh so he can break big plays, but James still is the bell cow.

How Fisch uses him is the key this year. I'm not sure how much he had to pass-protect in high school, so that will probably limit him for a while. He will make a good decoy just because of all the hype too. I don't want to see him get the ball every time he's in the game like they did with Hester when he was used on offense.

 

[sub150]

I have high expectations for Duke's career as a 'Cane, but I'm not expecting him to be all world in his first season.

Why not. Plenty of RB's play at the same level all 3-4 years. WYSIWYG. There isn't a "curve" at RB...the first carry is probably the same as the last.

I say 1000+ total yards. 700 rushing, 400 receiving. Kid is a BEAST. Needs to make sure he doesn't try and bulldose a 250# lb'er though. IMO, this is the best freshman RB and typically a freshman RB in the country puts up nasty numbers.

 

[UCaneDoIt]

I would like to see him play first.

 

[deleted3746]

I have high expectations for Duke's career as a 'Cane, but I'm not expecting him to be all world in his first season.

Why not. Plenty of RB's play at the same level all 3-4 years. WYSIWYG. There isn't a "curve" at RB...the first carry is probably the same as the last.

I say 1000+ total yards. 700 rushing, 400 receiving. Kid is a BEAST. Needs to make sure he doesn't try and bulldose a 250# lb'er though. IMO, this is the best freshman RB and typically a freshman RB in the country puts up nasty numbers.

Lulz...he wont get enough touches.

 

[BWCD]

Duke will get his numbers from the return game more than anything, I think. If he does that, and only that, as a Freshman and gives us a bunch of return yards and 4-5 scores, then I'll be absolutely ecstatic--especially if he does that w/o getting injured. A good return threat always helps put your offense in a better position to be successful.

He'll get some carries here and there though. Assuming he breaks a few long runs--I'm guessing in the neighborhood of 300-400 yards on the ground, 4-5 scores max. Unless Fisch decides to play him in the slot some and we make it a point to get him the football, I don't see him doing much receiving.

 

[TreOFive]

DBC says Duke heads to New York for the Heisman Trophy.

In DBC I Trust.

DBC is also smokin that really GOOD ****

 

[Canesfan1899]

600-800 yards rushing and another 250-300 receiving. Kid is our most dynamic back on the team, he will be hard to keep off the field once he starts doing his thing.