The Duke football program underwent an overhaul this offseason, and as a result, the Blue Devils will enter the 2026 season with vastly different expectations than when they were just coming off their 2025 ACC Championship victory, the first for the program since 1989.

Head coach Manny Diaz and his staff had to piece together a competitive roster after the transfer portal and the 2026 NFL Draft decimated the Blue Devils at several positions.

The main position on the field that Duke will look much different at than they expected is quarterback, as Darian Mensah's last-second transfer turned the Blue Devils' offseason into much more of a scene than what it was supposed to be.

Mensah, after transferring to Duke by way of Tulane ahead of the 2025 campaign, was phenomenal for the Blue Devils in his lone year with the club. Mensah led the ACC in passing yards (3,973) and passing touchdowns (34), while throwing just six interceptions.

After leading Duke to the ACC crown, he was set to enter the 2026 campaign as a true Heisman Trophy contender.

Mensah publicly released a video announcing his return to Durham after there was some speculation that he could enter the 2026 NFL Draft. Then, he completely turned the tables a few weeks later, announcing his decision to enter the portal with literally hours to go until the deadline.

The move shocked the Duke program and its fans, and the school actually sued its former quarterback for breaching the terms of the two-year NIL contract signed between the two sides. In the end, the deal was settled before it even went to court, and Mensah committed to Miami out of the portal.

Diaz and Co. were then forced to find a replacement with no time to prepare, given Mensah's late entry meant that most of the top portal QBs had already found their new homes.

Duke eventually landed San Jose State transfer quarterback Walker Eget, who has shown flashes of potential with his big arm, but has no experience at the Power Four level. The Blue Devils now enter the season with Eget as the projected starter, but the quarterback position is still fairly open.

The other signal caller on the roster who could compete with Eget for the starting role is redshirt freshman Dan Mahan, and that is where we will continue our list of the top 30 Duke football players heading into the 2026 season.

Duke Football 2026 Top 30 Players: No. 28 QB Dan Mahan

Mahan, a Burlington, NC native, committed to Duke in April of 2024 and enrolled in January of 2025. The 6'2", 185-pound quarterback was rated as the No. 795 overall player, No. 51 quarterback, and No. 20 player out of the state of North Carolina, according to the 247Sports 2025 Composite Rankings.

The Williams High School (NC) product held offers from schools such as Florida, Wake Forest, Boston College, and Appalachian State. Mahan was actually originally committed to App State, but decommitted from the Mountaineers five days before ultimately signing with the Blue Devils.

In high school, Mahan spent the first two seasons of his career primarily as a wide receiver. He didn't become a full-time quarterback until his junior year. As a senior, Mahan threw 2,528 yards and 33 touchdowns to go along with 988 rushing yards and another nine touchdowns on the ground.

Mahan entered Duke as the presumed successor to Mensah after enrolling in January, but after Mensah's premature departure from the program, the Blue Devils were forced to pivot. Mahan redshirted the 2025 campaign and will enter 2026 as a redshirt freshman.

As the spring and summer continue for Duke football, Mahan has remained in the back seat to Eget for the QB1 role right out of the gate. However, with Eget being totally unproven at the Power Four level, who knows how short the leash will be before Diaz decides to give Mahan a shot if the season starts out slow for the team.

Mahan is a true dual-threat quarterback with good size, able to use both his arm and his legs to progress the offense. Obviously, he has no in-game experience at the collegiate level, but he could be a very exciting player to monitor for Duke fans as time goes on.

If the Blue Devils had no success out of the portal, Mahan, in all likelihood, would've been the definitive starter for the program heading into 2026. Incoming 3-star freshman Terry Walker III is also making his way to Durham this summer, but it feels like a two-man race for the starting gig.

Throughout his tenure at Duke, Diaz has found a way to put a successful unit on the field even with a lack of supreme talent, namely in 2024. However, this is the first time in his tenure that there is a real discussion to be had at the QB spot entering the year.

In 2024, Texas transfer Maalik Murphy was the presumed starter pretty early on, and there was no debate once Mensah came over from Tulane. Eget's lack of experience in high-major football is bringing that discussion to the forefront.

Eget spent four total seasons with the Spartans and served as the team's starter for two of them. In his two campaigns as the San Jose State starter combined, the California native threw for 5,555 yards to go along with 30 touchdowns and 19 interceptions while completing about 58% of his passes.

Mahan is young, but he has the talent to challenge Eget for the starting role, despite Eget's being a seasoned veteran. At this point in the offseason, all signs point to Eget being the starter come Week 1, but that notion is nowhere near as set in stone for Duke as it has been over the last two seasons under Diaz.

Mahan has some work to do, but he has shown flashes throughout his time with Duke. If Eget gets off to a slow start, don't be shocked if Diaz makes a change at quarterback in favor of the redshirt freshman.

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