Cutcliffe says 2010 recruits fast and athletic

DURHAM - Duke football coach David Cutcliffe said he was looking for speed on both sides of the ball and addressed that need with the 19 players who signed national letters of intent on Wednesday.

"Speed and playermakers would be the theme overall," Cutcliffe said. 

When he arrived at Duke two years ago, Cutcliffe announced that, "if you can run, were going to find you." In this recruiting class, one that added players across the board - including two quarterbacks, eight backs and nine linemen- he said there are 10 guys with 4.5 or less 40-yard dash times, a major marker for speed in football.

He said this class is one of the fastest he's been around. 

"It's extremely fast," Cutcliffe said. "I think we have helped ourselves with a lot of defensive speed, lot of edge speed. A lot of speed at linebacker. ... If you look at what's there offensively there's a nice little mix."

In particular, Cutcliffe said the Devils addressed a need on the defensive line where they hope to generate more speed off the edge.

The Devils received commitments from nine North Carolina players: back Issac Blakeney (Monroe), quarterback Anthony Boone (Monroe), wide receiver Brandon Braxton (Charlotte), wide receiver Braxton Deaver (Charlotte), back Kelby Brown (Matthews), lineman (Takoby Cofield (Tarboro), back Josh Snead (Smithfield), back Quan Stevenson (High Point) and Nick Sink (Kernersville).

"Just thrilled with the results," Cutcliffe said. "We're deep into that again. Looking across this states over the next few years, you're going to see more and more players at Duke from the state of North Carolina. For lots of reasons, but first and foremost because of the quality of the athlete and the coaches." 

 Duke also picked up recruits from outside of the area, including back Juwan Thompson and Will Bryant from Woodward Academy in College Park, Ga., and quarterback Brandon Connette from Corona Calif.

Aside from speed, Cutcliffe said he wanted to bring in physical players with girth to push people around at the line of scrimmage. So the Devils signed four players close to 300 pounds, including Laken Tomlinson from Chicago, Steven Ingram from Southhaven, Miss., Jamal Wallace from Virginia Beach, Va. and Bryant. 

Tomlinson, at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, is ranked the 23rd overall offensive lineman in the nation by Scout.com.

Ranking and high school statistics will not matter for these recruits when the start of training camp comes this summer. Most will not likely take the field during the 2010 season. 

Duke may have loss senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis and defense tackle Vince Oghobaase, but it will not start off the season short-handed.

Last season the Devils redshirted 21 freshmen, something Cutcliffe said he will not hesitate to do with these incoming recruits.

Quarterbacks Boone and Connette will find themselves in line behind redshirt sophomore Sean Renfree and redshirt freshman Sean Schroeder. Renfree injured his knee last season and is currently rehabilitating it after surgery. He appeared in six games last season before injuring the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against Georgia Tech.

Duke also picked up a junior college recruit in Cooper Helfet from Santa Rosa, Calif. Out of high school, Helfet signed to play lacrosse with Johns Hopkins, but transferred to junior college after realizing how much he missed football.

"He made a really, really good decision," said Cutcliffe, who said his staff searched California for the best students coming out of junior college. He added that Helfet has enrolled at Duke and is expected to make a "big impact."

NOTE - Cutcliffe announced that Duke kicker Will Snyderwine was awarded a scholarship. The sophomore walk-on made 17 of 20 field goal attempts for the Devils during the 2009 season. 

Junior wide receiver Johnny Williams was moved to corner back.