David Cutcliffe and the Duke Blue Devils football program were on the receiving end of a pleasant surprise late Friday evening, snagging a verbal commitment from one of the Sunshine State's premier interior offensive lineman in Tarpon Springs (Fla.) East Lake senior, Julian Santos.

Santos, a 6-foot-4, 297-pound road-grader in the trenches who wins the leverage battle more often than not, is tabbed as the 63rd-ranked guard prospect on Scout. In addition to the Blue Devils, Santos has offers on the table from Miami, North Carolina, Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, West Virginia and Penn State among others.

"The reason I chose Duke was because of the amazing chance for a great education," Santos said. "It's a beautiful place that felt like home not only football wise, but like a place that could be home for my family and I."

Evaluation:

This powerful Florida native shows good hand placement and will likely lace up the cleats at guard on the next level. Santos shows no problem sliding his feet and mirroring his opponent in pass protection, and does a nice job of keeping a low base and playing with good knee bend as well.

Santos is an agile offensive lineman that moves well in space and reaches the second level with ease. He really gets off the football and is always on the lookout for contact as well. Santos is a standout wrestler at East Lake who really takes care of his body, so his frame currently doesn't hold much bad weight. Santos is technically sound with a strong work ethic for coach Bob Hudson and the 4-3 Eagles.

Santos has yet to lock in his official visit with the Blue Devils, but plans to do so in the near future.

Stay tuned to Scout for more on Santos' commitment.