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Over the last few years, the Duke Blue Devils have emerged as an ACC contender under head coach David Cutcliffe, achieving success on the football field that the school had never seen before. The core of that success has started to move on from Duke which means that we will start to see how well the Blue Devils and Cutcliffe can maintain their success. One of the key pieces of that transition, linebacker Kelby Brown, won’t be available, however, after once again tearing his ACL.
Brown was slated to be a starter on the 2015 defense and was a popular pick to be an All-ACC selection this season. He was sidelined for the entire 2014 season after tearing his ACL in fall practice and received a sixth year of eligibility to come back for this fall. With this latest injury, however, Brown’s football career is officially over, though he will stay on with Duke as a student assistant for the 2015 season. This is the second time he has torn his left ACL after overcoming two right ACL tears earlier in his career.
When Brown was on the field, though, he was one of Duke’s top defensive leaders. In a breakout 2013 campaign, Brown finished with 114 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and two interceptions. He earned All-ACC honors while ranking No. 2 in the conference in tackles per game (8.77). His production would have been a huge boost to a defense that is replacing their top two linebackers from 2014 in David Helton and C.J. France.
More significantly, Brown was a cornerstone for the turnaround at Duke and represented the last of the “old guard” that has sparked this rise to football relevance for the Blue Devils. As the team transitions to a new group of leaders, having that veteran hand guiding them would have been a major help.
Without the production and leadership of a player like Kelby Brown, will Duke’s defense suffer a major step backwards in 2015?
You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.
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