Duke football missing three players in practices for Dec. 31 Sun Bowl game
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Three Duke players missed practices for the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl after entering the NFL draft.
- Chandler Rivers, V.J. Anthony Jr. and Brian Parker II sit out to prepare for 2026 draft.
- Coach Diaz expects strong retention, plans mock game and is aiding Mensah's process.
At a time when many college teams are preparing for bowl games while dealing with players planning to enter the transfer portal or opt out of bowls, Duke is an exception.
Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz said Thursday that the 2025 ACC champions have been missing three players in their workouts for the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl: cornerback Chandler Rivers, defensive end V.J. Anthony Jr. and offensive tackle Brian Parker II.
All three are entering the 2026 NFL Draft and will not play in the bowl game against Arizona State in El Paso, Texas. Rivers announced Wednesday he would enter the draft, and Parker, a redshirt junior, told ESPN on Thursday he would forgo his college eligibility.
“Everyone except for those three guys has practiced fully, and our expectation is that everyone who is practicing we expect to play,” Diaz said on a media call.
Darian Mensah status
That includes quarterback Darian Mensah, Diaz said. A CBS Sports report this week indicated Mensah is considering entering the draft, and Diaz said there have been discussions about the NFL with the redshirt junior, the ACC passing leader this season.
“Of course we’ve talked about it,” Diaz said. “We’re trying to help him through the decision. It’s a great amount of respect for his play this year, and I think it’s a great amount of respect for this program and what we had around Darian this year.
“To be honest, that’s something as I envision for this program. I hope the story every December at Duke is either we’ve got a quarterback who’s considering making the jump early or we’ve got a quarterback who finished his eligibility who expects to be one of the top quarterbacks taken in the league.”
Mensah transferred to Duke from Tulane after last season, replacing Maalik Murphy as QB1 for the Blue Devils; Murphy, in turn, transferred to Oregon State. Mensah finished fourth nationally with 3,646 pasing yards and was fifth with 30 touchdown passes for Duke, which will take an 8-5 record into the bowl.
“It’s a big part of how we built the program,” Diaz said. “We want to be a very quarterback friendly offense, which I think we’ve proven that we are over the last two years. That we attract great quarterbacks either through the portal or through high school recruiting, which I think we’ve done.
“So, it’s something we embrace. So anything we can do to help Darian through his process and sort out fact and fiction as much as you can in this process, we want to be there for him, as we would be with all of our players.”
Managing the Duke roster
Diaz, in looking at roster management, said he again expects to retain a major part of his roster. The transfer portal opens on Jan. 2 and Diaz noted, “Everybody knows everybody in the country is after guys all the time.
“As much as we possibly can to come to terms with the guys … I’ve mentioned many times that retention is the key to our success here at Duke because of our academic standards and how we want to build this thing,” he said. “The situation is always fluid, but I expect our retention rate to be very good, again.”
Duke has been made a 3-point betting favorite against the Sun Devils (8-4) in the bowl game. Arizona State has had nine players announce they were entering the NCAA portal amid speculation that coach Kenny Dillingham could have interest in the Michigan job.
The Sun Devils were 11-2 last season, winning the Big 12 championship and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Texas in a double-overtime quarterfinal game.
“Bowl games, when you don’t play for a long time, they’re a lot like season openers,” Diaz said. “They’re more about you than your opponent. They’re about your preparation, your conditioning, because it is a long layoff.”
Diaz said the Blue Devils would play a “mock game” on Sunday before allowing the players some time off for Christmas before resuming practice.
This story was originally published December 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM.
