Pro Football Focus revealed its national team of the week on Sunday, and Blue Devils right tackle Brian Parker II became the second straight Duke offensive lineman to make the squad.
Parker earned a 90.2 offensive grade against Georgia Tech on Saturday after he didn’t give up a single pressure on 35 pass-blocking snaps. The Blue Devils averaged 3.70 yards per carry as a team, resulting in an 88.1 run-blocking grade for the redshirt sophomore.
Left guard Caleb Krings, who transferred to the Blue Devils from Elon this offseason, made the PFF national team in Week 5 for his performance against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The consecutive nominations highlight just how impressive a job head coach Manny Diaz and his staff did in the trenches this offseason. After all, the Blue Devils literally played a seven-on-seven spring game because they did not have enough active offensive linemen on the roster.
Instead of instability in the trenches, however, quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] has been sacked eight times (the fourth-fewest in the ACC) this season and the offense has averaged 3.88 yards per rushing attempt over the past four games.
Justin Pickett, a right guard and one of Duke’s team captains, joined Parker on the ACC Team of the Week.