Duke lands transfer commitment from Lafayette offensive lineman Mike Barr

Mike Barr, a transfer offensive lineman who played the past three seasons at Lafayette College (PA), will transfer to play for Duke. Barr announced the decision via his Twitter account on Tuesday.

Standing 6-foot-4, Barr was a starter for the Leopards each of the past two seasons at both right tackle and center. He helped lead Lafayette to a 9-3 record this past season and appearance in the FCS playoffs. The Leopards averaged 4.74 yards per carry to rank 29th in the FBS.

Barr played high school football at Haverford School in Havertown, Pennsylvania. He was a three-year letterwinner and named first team All-Inter-Academic as a senior.

Lafayette canceled its 2020 season due to COVID, granting Barr an extra year of eligibility to transfer to Duke. He made his college debut in the spring of 2021 and will have one season left.

The Blue Devils are coming off of an 8-5 season and victory in the Birmingham Bowl. However, they lost head coach Mike Elko to Texas A&M and brought in Manny Diaz to replace him.

As the new era begins, landing a transfer with the caliber of Barr is a big win for Diaz as he looks to build up an offensive line that lost several key pieces this offseason.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Additional transfer portal information for Duke

The Blue Devils rank 65th overall and last in the ACC according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. They have brought in eight players through the portal and lost 10.

Mike Barr is the fourth transfer offensive lineman that Duke has brought in, joining Micah Sahakian (Cornell), Eric Schon (Holy Cross) and Jack Purcell (Pennsylvania). The Blue Devils also added former Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy to replace Riley Leonard, who left to join Notre Dame.

In addition to Leonard, Duke lost several other big pieces of its offense in the transfer portal, including running back Jordan Waters and receiver Malik Bowen-Sims. The combined losses and additions give the Blue Devils a transfer portal index score of -23, so they’ve lost more value than they’ve gained at this point.

As Diaz continues to build the roster, he’ll hope to find more players out there like Barr who can step in and make an impact right away in 2024.