Parker Boehme Gives Duke Football Safety Net In Wake Of Thomas Sirk's Injury

The ideal situation for the Duke Blue Devils would be for good news on Thomas Sirk coming back healthy from his Achilles injury. However, there could be a silver lining in Sirk’s injury in that they get a long look at sophomore quarterback Parker Boehme, who could be the answer for Duke at quarterback moving forward.

Boehme got to see the field, including one start, last season and was intriguing if nothing else. His stats don’t jump off the page. He completed just 55.1 percent of his 78 attempts for 579 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He did show some promise with his run game, rushing 45 times for 181 yards and five touchdowns, including a 77-yard run.

Sirk completed 58.8 percent of his 427 passes for 2,625 yards, 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also rushed for 803 yards and eight touchdowns on 163 carries, including a 73-yard run. Sirk is Duke’s best option, but Boehme could easily hold down the fort and potentially exceed expectations. If that happens, Duke could have themselves a quarterback controversy when and if Sirk comes back healthy.

Coach David Cutcliffe has been a very good judge of talent at quarterback since taking over the Duke program. He has found quarterbacks to fit his offense, and Sirk had the promise to be the best of the bunch before the injury. Sirk entered Duke as the 19th overall pro-style quarterback in the country according to Rivals.com. However, Boehme comes with plenty of promise himself. He was listed as the 62nd overall quarterback in the country by Scout.com and the 40th overall pocket-passing QB by ESPN.

If Boehme lives up to his potential he could force Cutcliffe to make a difficult decision, assuming Sirk comes back healthy this season. Duke is set up well right now to absorb Sirk’s injury, but how well they do will depend on Boehme’s arm and his legs.