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Five to Represent Duke at ACC Kickoff
7/10/2025 10:05:00 AM | Football
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Redshirt sophomore quarterback Darian Mensah, redshirt junior offensive lineman Brian Parker II, senior cornerback Chandler Rivers and senior defensive end Wesley Williams, along with head coach Manny Diaz, will represent Duke at the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff, July 22-24, at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Â
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The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Thursday the 68 student-athletes who have been chosen by its 17 league schools to attend the main preseason event. Duke, along with Boston College, Clemson, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia Tech will hold its media availability at the kickoff Thursday, July 24. The 2025 ACC Kickoff will showcase some of the top talent in college football, including 14 quarterbacks, 10 offensive linemen, and a dynamic group of skill position players on offense. Defensively, fans can expect to hear from 11 defensive linemen, 11 defensive backs, and 12 linebackers—a true cross-section of the league's elite playmakers. Notably, 60 of the 68 players are upperclassmen, bringing leadership, experience, and insight to the media spotlight.
Mensah, from San Luis Obispo, Calif., arrived in Durham after transferring from Tulane University. He is No. 3 in ESPN.com's final transfer rankings heading into 2025. In 13 career games (13 starts), Mensah has completed 189-of-287 (.659) passes for 2,723 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has rushed 60 times for 132 yards (2.20) and one score. Last fall, Mensah became one of just 10 quarterbacks in Tulane history to reach 20+ passing TDs in a season. He guided the Green Wave offense that ranked among the top 10 nationally in third down conversion percentage (2nd/.525), yards per completion (6th/14.32), team passing efficiency (7th/166.86) and points per game (9th/37.15).
Parker II earned Second Team All-ACC honors after the 2024 campaign. He started all 13 games, 12 at right tackle and one at left tackle, last fall. The Cincinnati, Ohio, product was graded by Pro Football Focus (PFF) as having the fifth-highest pass blocking grade among Power 4 tackles (85.5) and the highest in the ACC. According to PFF, he played the most pass blocking snaps nationally without allowing a sack in 2024 with 515, surrenÂdering just one hit and nine hurries. Parker II enters the 2025 season ranked as the No. 9 returning offensive tackle nationally by PFF.
Rivers, a preseason All-America honoree from Beaumont, Texas, was an All-America selection by four publications following the 2024 season. In addition, he earned First Team All-ACC and Academic All-ACC accolades. He earned a place on the 2025 CBSSports.com top-150 players list and was tabbed by PFF as the No. 5 returning cornerback and No. 33 player nationally heading into 2025. Rivers enters this season with 164 career tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, five interceptions, two caused fumbles, one fumble recovery, 21 pass breakups, six quarterback pressures and one blocked kick.Â
Williams was an Honorable Mention All-ACC pick in 2024. In 26 career games (15 starts), he has compiled 87 tackles, 20.0 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks, one caused fumble, three pass breakups, 12 quarterback pressures, three blocked kicks and one safety. He joins Clemson's T.J. Parker as the ACC's only returning players with 6.5+ tackles for loss in each of the past two seasons. Williams, of Gainesville, Va., blocked two field goals in the 2023 season opener against Clemson, a punt in the 2024 season opener versus Elon and added a blocked field goal against Florida State in 2024.
The four will be joined by Diaz, who is entering his second year at the helm. As Duke's first-year head coach last fall, Diaz led the Blue Devils to a 9-4 record with a 5-3 ledger in ACC action, highlighted by victories over in-state rivals North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest. He tied Mike Elko for the most wins by a Duke first-year head coach and joined Elko and Fred Goldsmith as the only three to guide the program to bowl appearances in their initial seasons.Â
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Duke is set to kick off the 2025 season at home on Thursday, August 28 when it welcomes Elon to Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Season tickets for the 2025 campaign are now available by visiting GoDuke.com/footballtix.Â
For more information on Duke Football, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeFOOTBALL".
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#GoDuke
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The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Thursday the 68 student-athletes who have been chosen by its 17 league schools to attend the main preseason event. Duke, along with Boston College, Clemson, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia Tech will hold its media availability at the kickoff Thursday, July 24. The 2025 ACC Kickoff will showcase some of the top talent in college football, including 14 quarterbacks, 10 offensive linemen, and a dynamic group of skill position players on offense. Defensively, fans can expect to hear from 11 defensive linemen, 11 defensive backs, and 12 linebackers—a true cross-section of the league's elite playmakers. Notably, 60 of the 68 players are upperclassmen, bringing leadership, experience, and insight to the media spotlight.
Mensah, from San Luis Obispo, Calif., arrived in Durham after transferring from Tulane University. He is No. 3 in ESPN.com's final transfer rankings heading into 2025. In 13 career games (13 starts), Mensah has completed 189-of-287 (.659) passes for 2,723 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has rushed 60 times for 132 yards (2.20) and one score. Last fall, Mensah became one of just 10 quarterbacks in Tulane history to reach 20+ passing TDs in a season. He guided the Green Wave offense that ranked among the top 10 nationally in third down conversion percentage (2nd/.525), yards per completion (6th/14.32), team passing efficiency (7th/166.86) and points per game (9th/37.15).
Parker II earned Second Team All-ACC honors after the 2024 campaign. He started all 13 games, 12 at right tackle and one at left tackle, last fall. The Cincinnati, Ohio, product was graded by Pro Football Focus (PFF) as having the fifth-highest pass blocking grade among Power 4 tackles (85.5) and the highest in the ACC. According to PFF, he played the most pass blocking snaps nationally without allowing a sack in 2024 with 515, surrenÂdering just one hit and nine hurries. Parker II enters the 2025 season ranked as the No. 9 returning offensive tackle nationally by PFF.
Rivers, a preseason All-America honoree from Beaumont, Texas, was an All-America selection by four publications following the 2024 season. In addition, he earned First Team All-ACC and Academic All-ACC accolades. He earned a place on the 2025 CBSSports.com top-150 players list and was tabbed by PFF as the No. 5 returning cornerback and No. 33 player nationally heading into 2025. Rivers enters this season with 164 career tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, five interceptions, two caused fumbles, one fumble recovery, 21 pass breakups, six quarterback pressures and one blocked kick.Â
Williams was an Honorable Mention All-ACC pick in 2024. In 26 career games (15 starts), he has compiled 87 tackles, 20.0 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks, one caused fumble, three pass breakups, 12 quarterback pressures, three blocked kicks and one safety. He joins Clemson's T.J. Parker as the ACC's only returning players with 6.5+ tackles for loss in each of the past two seasons. Williams, of Gainesville, Va., blocked two field goals in the 2023 season opener against Clemson, a punt in the 2024 season opener versus Elon and added a blocked field goal against Florida State in 2024.
The four will be joined by Diaz, who is entering his second year at the helm. As Duke's first-year head coach last fall, Diaz led the Blue Devils to a 9-4 record with a 5-3 ledger in ACC action, highlighted by victories over in-state rivals North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest. He tied Mike Elko for the most wins by a Duke first-year head coach and joined Elko and Fred Goldsmith as the only three to guide the program to bowl appearances in their initial seasons.Â
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Duke is set to kick off the 2025 season at home on Thursday, August 28 when it welcomes Elon to Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Season tickets for the 2025 campaign are now available by visiting GoDuke.com/footballtix.Â
For more information on Duke Football, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeFOOTBALL".
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#GoDuke
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