Duke football released its first depth chart of the 2024 season on Monday, just days before Friday’s season opener against Elon, and most of it came as no surprise to Blue Devils fans. Quarterback Maalik Murphy had already been declared the starter, and stars like Jordan Moore, Chandler Rivers, and Jaylen Stinson were assured starters the entire offseason.
However, on the defensive line, veteran Wesley Williams was listed as the starting VYPER. Which, naturally, raised a question: what is a VYPER?
The distinction, first-year head coach Manny Diaz explained at his Monday press conference, isn’t especially interesting.
“The VYPER position is basically what people would call their rush end,” Diaz said. “An end that often lines up to the boundary, can drop, can rush, and do those types of things.”
So why isn’t Williams just called a defensive end? Well, because it sounds cool.
“It’s way more fancy when we call it the VYPER, right?” Diaz said. “It sounds cooler so put that on the bottom of your business card.”
As a redshirt freshman in 2023, Williams racked up 39 total tackles, 6.5 of which resulted in a loss, and 1.5 sacks.