Duke Bolsters Backfield With Transfer Portal Running Back

The 2024 college football season is still months away, but that hasn’t stopped the Duke Blue Devils from adding impact players from the transfer portal as Manny Diaz tries to build off the success Mike Elko had in 2023.

The Blue Devils enter this season with an entirely new offense as University of Texas transfer Maalik Murphy will be Duke’s new quarterback as Riley Leonard left earlier in the offseason to go to Notre Dame.

At the running back spot, the Blue Devils saw standout Jordan Waters transfer to NC State in January for his grad year, leaving the team in an interesting spot heading into 2024. Duke still has Jaquez Moore on the roster, who had a great 2023 season with 674 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 116 carries.

However, the Blue Devils can’t go into this season, just leaning on Moore. Therefore, they were able to land an underrated running back from C-USA in the transfer portal.

Duke Football News: Blue Devils Land Former New Mexico State RB in Portal

On Wednesday, former New Mexico State Aggies running back Star Thomas announced on Twitter/X that he’s joining the Blue Devils.

Thomas is coming off a good two-year run at New Mexico State after beginning his collegiate career at Coffeyville Community College. Last season at New Mexico St., Thomas went off for 853 yards from scrimmage and six total touchdowns (four rushing scores).

Within those 853 yards from scrimmage, Thomas had 653 yards on the ground. For his efforts, Thomas was named second-team All-Conference USA. The former New Mexico State star will look to carry that momentum into the ACC this season as he has one year left of eligibility.

The Blue Devils aren’t expected to make much noise this season, as their win total is set at O/U 5.5 on FanDuel Sportsbook. However, if Thomas and Moore can build off what they did last year and Murphy continues to develop as a passer, the Blue Devils could upset a few teams in 2024.

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