Practice Report: Duke Week

BY JAKE WEINSTOCK

The Green Wave were in full pads on Tuesday morning as they continue their preparations for this weekend's season opener against the Duke Blue Devils, who of course reign as ACC champions. The lineup has certainly begun to crystalize, even following the release of a depth chart, last week.

There were several standouts, on Tuesday, perhaps none more notable than Josh Lewis, who has continued to transform his body and his play-style. I would anticipate he plays the majority of the snaps at field end on Saturday, but Rashad Sterling (University of Houston) will certainly get a fair share and I do not mean to suggest that the drop-off is significant.

With three very talented, experienced, returning safeties (Jack Tchienchou, Kevin Adams, and Joshua Moore) I had speculated over the spring/summer how much we would see a three-safety package, perhaps with Moore or Adams at spear (slot cornerback). Leaving Yulman on Tuesday left me with the distinct impression that Moore will see a good bit of time, there, especially when opposing offenses have fewer than three wide receivers on the field. Kajuan Banks (USF) has been quite the find, there, as well, and it sure seems to speak to the talent level in this back seven that someone like TJ Smith appears to be running third, there.

While he led Tulane in both targets and receptions in 2025, Anthony Brown-Stephens seemed to fly under the radar, with a lot of fan and media attention on Shazz Preston and Omari Hayes. Brown-Stephens looks great, and Zycarl "CJ" Lewis appears poised to take a big step forward in 2026, along with the clear WR1 (at least for now) in the form of Destyn Hill (LSU). It's clearly an offense that wants to run the ball first and foremost, and it's operated by a quarterback whose gamebreaking attributes are with his legs, not his arm, but I think opportunities will be there to get the ball to these three in space and generate some explosives when the box is loaded with 7 or 8 defenders to key on the option runs.

At corner, the Green Wave appear set to open with E'Zaiah Shine at boundary (short side of the field, relative to which hash mark the ball is spotted on/nearest) and Anthony Rogers (Nicholls State) at the field (wide side of the field). Rogers plays with an underrated physicality and earning one of those spots over Macho Stevenson (Texas Tech), LJ Green, and Shaun Nicholas was no walk in the park.

Tight end Dawson Johnson (Old Dominion) looks like a perfect blend of physicality in the running game, along with being a reliable outlet in the passing game, after the tight end room struggled with drops in 2025.

We will have a formal Duke preview later in the week, along with the FTW Cast pregame show.