Image Credit: 247Sports

2012 Statistics: 10 games played, 9 games started

When De’Onte Arnett came to Maryland as a member of the 2009 recruiting class, it was a big get for the Terps. He was a 4-star recruit out of the Forrestville Military Academy and was staying home to play for his state’s school. He was hailed as one of the best future stars on the Terps’ defense. Yes, the defense.

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De’Onte Arnett was recruited to Maryland as a defensive end, and a very good one at that. He was a 4-star prospect at defensive end, and had extremely good agility and quickness. He still has that agility and quickness, but gained a lot of weight and is playing the offensive line. He made the move to offensive line in the middle of the 2010 season, which was his redshirt freshman year. The main reason for the move was simply that the Terps had too much talent on the defensive line to warrant starting him anytime soon. They had much more of a need on their offensive line.

While Arnett was a great defensive line prospect, he has developed into a fairly serviceable offensive lineman for the Terps. He started most of his games last season at right guard, but enters 2013 as the projected starter at left guard. As mentioned before, he has great agility and quickness that makes him the perfect offensive lineman for a spread-style offense. He is able to get out in space and create holes for running backs, which will be a key for the 2013 Terps offense to succeed.

As a whole, the Terps offensive line is a good run blocking group. But they are lacking in pass blockers. De’Onte Arnett is more of a run blocker, which is expected from a former defensive lineman who is used to pushing opposing players forwards. That is not to say that he can’t pass block, because he is one of the more naturally talented players on the Terps’ offensive line.

Arnett projects to start the 2013 season at left guard, while Andrew Zeller starts at right guard. Zeller and Arnett split time at right guard in 2012, with Arnett getting the majority of the playing time. Zeller is a very talented player who could be the best pass blocker on the line this season. If the Terps can lock down the two guard spots with those two players, the offensive line could be less of a question mark in 2013.

Zack Kiesel
Zack Kiesel

Terps Analyst

Zack is a financial analyst for a defense contractor in Washington, DC. The Owings Mills native focuses most of his efforts on Maryland Football recruiting and individual coach and player pieces; but also covers Terps Basketball. He has established relationships with Big Ten beat reporters across the conference, which he utilizes in his game previews. Now a Sr. Terps Analyst for BSL, Zack can be reached at: [email protected].

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