Stock Watch: Blakeney keeps trending in the right direction

The opening bell of the Blue Zone stock exchange has just rung, meaning it's time for our first Stock Watch of the season taking a look at who is rising and falling with their performances on the gridiron. Each week The Blue Zone will look at whose stock is on the rise and whose stock has taken a hit from the week in the Duke football world.

Bull Market—Trending Up

• Issac Blakeney: At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, moving from the slot and tight positions to an outside receiver slot was expected to make the Duke track star a matchup nightmare this season. So far, the redshirt senior has not disappointed. Blakeney hauled in five passes for 90 yards and one touchdown in Saturday's 34-17 win at Troy to add to a stellar two-touchdown performance in week one against Elon. If the Monroe, N.C. continues putting up big numbers and giving All-ACC wideout Jamison Crowder more room to operate, the Blue Devils will only get more dangerous.
• Thomas Sirk: Looking at the box score from Saturday's contest, Duke's backup quarterback only saw action on two plays, carrying once for five yards and throwing a two-yard touchdown on a Tebow-esque jump-pass to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the contest. But Sirk's ability to come in and efficiently churn out first downs in short yardage situations should not be overlooked. The redshirt sophomore ran for 55 yards and two touchdowns against Elon, and his ability to produce scores and first downs in offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery's short-yardage package is something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
  
• Chris Holmes and Zavier Carmichael: Duke's young duo at will linebacker combined for nine tackles as the normal starter at will linebacker—David Helton—has taken over Kelby Brown's vacated mike linebacker spot. Redshirt senior C.J. France started at will linebacker in week one, but has been battling a leg injury, opening the door for Holmes and Carmichael to get most of the reps at the position as the season progresses. The redshirt freshman and freshman will need to keep playing well, especially with tougher competition looming.
• Shaun Wilson: One may wonder how a team's third option at running back could be trending up, but the true freshman has looked dynamic on just nine carries in two games, turning those touches into 89 yards for a healthy 9.9 yards per carry average. Along with redshirt freshman Joseph Ajeigbe, Wilson is giving Blue Devil fans plenty of reason to believe in Duke's future backfield, and his speed could make him a game-changer sooner rather than later.

Bear Market—Trending Down

• Johnell Barnes: Barnes seemed poised to have a breakout sophomore season opposite of Crowder after contributing in several games last year as a freshman wideout, but the emergence of Blakeney as a matchup nightmare on the outside and Max McCaffrey as an effective slot receiver have made Barnes take a backseat. The 6-foot, 170-pound wideout has caught five passes for just 24 yards in Duke's first two games, but might need to make some more plays downfield for the Blue Devils to reach their full potential this year.
• Thad Lewis: Although most of the former Duke standouts in the NFL met or exceeded expectations this summer, Lewis did not, plummeting from a solid backup role with the Bills to the ranks of the unemployed in just a matter of weeks. With the number of signal callers looking for jobs continuing to rise, it is unclear what the future holds for Lewis. Although he worked out for the Eagles a few weeks ago, the team has not given him a contract.
• The Big Ten: Many consider the ACC's Coastal Division to be one of the weakest out of any among the power conferences, but the Big Ten's atrocious showing in week two of the regular season should take some of the heat of the ACC for some time. Five teams from the conference lost—including Purdue and Northwestern losing at home to Central Michigan and Northern Illinois, respectively—and the two teams expected to compete for a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff were thrashed on national television. Michigan State allowed Oregon to score 28 consecutive second-half points and fell 46-27 on the road and Ohio State made Duke's coastal division rival Virginia Tech look like a top-15 squad, falling 35-21 at home.