Previewing Terps Football w/ P.Stevens & P. Volk

Coach Friedgen and the University of Maryland Terrapins will officially turn the page on a hugely disappointing 2009 season, when Fall practice starts August 10th.

To help prepare us for the start of camp, we invited some fellow Terps bloggers/writers to provide their thoughts.

Baltimore Sports and Life would like to thank the following writers for their opinions, and encourages you to review their sites and work further.

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: http://d1scourse.typepad.com/
Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: http://maryland.scout.com/

Baltimore Sports and Life 1) “To me if there was any positive about the 2009 season, it was that the Offensive Line played a lot of guys and gained experience. How do you feel about this group in general?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “With three sophomores and two former walk-ons starting and almost completely inexperienced backups behind them, this is a unit that has to be considered a question mark until it proves otherwise.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “They’re a group that really needs to prove themselves. Besides Paul Pinegar at center, it’s a giant question mark for the Terps, and is the area most important to their success.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 1a) “Justin Gilbert seems entrenched at LT, but what about LG? Lamar Young has left the program. Do you expect Pete White to push Andrew Gonnella for that starting position?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Friedgen praised Gonnella throughout the spring, and it seemed like White was struggling to pick up the offense. Gonnella will probably start.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “I expect Gonnella to keep his spot at LG. White really struggled during the spring, and there were questions raised as to whether or not he would make the team.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 1b) “Who will start between Paul Pinegar at Center, and RJ Dill at RT?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “If he’s healthy, Bennett Fulper. If not, Justin Lewis.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “My guess is Bennett Fulper, but this is one of the most open positions for Maryland going into next season.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 2) “There is an abundance of talent at RB with Scott, Meggett, Douglas,Porzel, and Adams. Is finding carries for each going to be a problem?If you were designing the offense, how would you allocate the carries?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Injuries and ineffectiveness happen, so that will sort itself out.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “I think this will be an issue for the Terps, especially with the emergence of DJ Adams at the Spring Game. Porzel has a lot of talent, and if he can put it all together he’ll be a real talent for the Terps. My guess is Scott gets most of the carries (60-65%), Meggett gets a lot of goal line and short yardage situations (30%), and Adams pick up the rest of the slack (5-10%). I doubt Porzel would agree to a redshirt, but that would probably be best for him, and I think Douglas is going to be the one left out here.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 3) “Obviously 2nd-team All ACC WR Torrey Smith will remain the primary weapon outside, and owns the ‘Z’ position for Terps Wide Receivers. What about the F, and X wideouts? Cannon had 44 grabs at the X position, but can Kevin Dorsey get in the mix? At the F receiver Ronnie Tyler seems like the likely starter but LaQuan Williams, and Kerry Boykins both have better size. Thoughts on this group as a whole?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Cannon and Tyler will probably start. Maryland will play more guys this year — notably Quintin McCree to give Smith a breather.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “This is another group (wide receivers besides Torrey) that has to really step up their game if the Terps are to do well. Tyler and Cannon are the obvious favorites, but Dorsey, Williams, and Quinton McRee should get some catches too. If Jamarr can find the one guy he really gels with (again, besides Torrey), the Terps offense will have great potential.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 4) “Talk to me about the TE’s. Matt Furstenburg, Devonte Campbell, and Lansford Watson each came to College Park as strong recruits. Who is the best athlete? Who has the best hands? Who is the best blocker?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Best athlete is Campbell. Best hands are equal between Campbell and Watson. Best blocker is Furstenburg.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “This is a pretty big area of concern for the Terps, as no one has really distinguished themselves from the rest yet. Furstenburg is the best blocker, and Campbell and Watson are similar players (athletic with good hands). Watson is taller than Campbell, but Campbell is probably stronger. I would expect Watson to get most of the playing time here, because he’s a better receiver.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 5) “If the Terps are going to improve this year, the DLine clearly has to be better. Are the starters (Derek Drummond – DE, AJ Francis – NT, Zack Kerr – DT, and Justin Anderson – Anchor) talented enough to contain the run, and collapse the pocket?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Drew Gloster (for Drummond) and Joe Vellano (for Kerr) left spring as likely starters. Whatever success that unit has will come in tandem with work from the linebackers.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “The D-Line is much improved from last year. Francis was a bright surprise for the Terps as a freshman, and he looks like a star on the defensive line for the next two or three years. Anderson, Drummond, and Kerr are all solid, but guys like Joe Vellano, Bradley Johnson, and Marcus Whitfield really came on during spring practice and are expected to contribute this year. Vellano is a guy that coach Friedgen repeatedly spoke highly of this spring, calling him the “most improved player”. Vellano and Francis work very well together, both in the pass and run games, and I think that will help the Terps’ defense a lot this year.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 5a) “There seems to be quality depth with Vellano, Kabango, and Arnett. Will we see more of a DLine rotation this year? How is Arnett’s transition inside going?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “There was a pretty substantial defensive line rotation by the middle of the season last year — Harrell, Ivey, D. Galt, Francis, Vellano, Ross, Drummond, Anderson, Kerr, Russell. Maybe it grows by a guy, but quantity wasn’t the problem last year. Arnett was a guy who wasn’t mentioned much in the spring.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “Definitely. Guys like Vellano, Kabongo, Johnson, Whitfield, and Drew Gloster should get some quality playing time this year for the Terps, and could really help this defense out. Arnett seems to be doing well inside. He’s a young kid, so he has time to figure it out.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 6) “The Terps have a gifted starting LB trio of Adrian Moten, 1st-team All ACC Alex Wujciak, and Demetrius Hartsfield. Which backups are you excited to see? Prized recruit David Mackall has been moved to LB from DE. For 2010 will he be asked to purely rush the QB?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Mackall is much more likely to be placed in situations where he attacks the ball rather than drops back into coverage.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “Mackall will pretty much only be asked to rush the QB this season. While he has done remarkably well for a true freshman who graduated from high school a semester early, he still is struggling with pass coverages, a part of his game that he admits he needs to work on. In terms of other backups, the Terps are deep here as well. Avery Murray, Darin Drakeford, and Ben Pooler should have big roles, while Ryan Donohue had a huge spring game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Donohue get some quality playing time this season.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 7) “The Terps have a pair of big punishing Safeties in Kenny Tate, and Antwine Perez. What do you think about the speed, size, and cover skills of CB’s Trenton Hughes, and Cameron Chism? Is Travis Hawkins in the mix at CB? Any surprise names to watch?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “The improvement from Hughes and Chism will be important. Hughes will probably split time with Dexter McDougle. Hawkins moved to safety. Avery Graham was a player who impressed coaches at corner in the spring.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “I feel comfortable in saying, right now, that the Terps have the best safety combo in the ACC. The athletic combination of Tate and Perez is just staggering. Chism was a great surprise for the Terps last year and continues to make strides, and the combination of Trenton Hughes and Dexter McDougle impressed this spring. The problem at corner is a lack of depth for the Terps. It looks like Hawkins is going to stay at safety, which means that Avery Graham, a practice squad member last year, is really the only guy that stands out as a backup corner. Expect some playing time from true freshmen like Desmond Kearse, Jeremiah Wilson and Matt Robinson next year.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 8) “The Coaching staff has to feel good about Special Teams with Ferrara and Baltz anchoring the Kicking game, and T. Smith as the Kick Returner. Who heads to the Fall as the likely Punt Returner?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Tony Logan.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “While the staff has toyed around with Smith as the Punt Returner as well, it looks like Tony Logan’s going to keep that spot.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 9) “QB Jamarr Robinson is athletic and possesses a strong arm. Do you think the Terps will give him the chance to spread the field and attack opposing defenses, or will they ask him to be conservative and run a ball control offense?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “Depends on how good the offensive line proves to be.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “Definitely. Coach James Franklin loves to run an offense with a mobile quarterback, something he was unable to do with flat-footed Chris Turner. With Robinson, Franklin has the opportunity to experiment with his offense, leading to more exciting results this season.”

Baltimore Sports and Life 10) “At first-glance at the schedule, I have the Terps finishing 7-5 overall, 4-4 in the ACC, and 2-3 in the Atlantic Division.

Navy – W (Though I am not excited about this game. Facing a 10 win
team that beat ND, and Missouri and lost by just 4 at Ohio State will
not be fun. Couple that with the Midshipman having half the M&T Bank
Stadium, and running the Triple Option, and this could be a long day.)

Morgan State – W
@WVU – L
Florida International – W
Duke – W
Bye
@Clemson – L
@Boston College – L
Wake – W
@Miami – L
@UVA – W
FSU – L
NCST – W

Where do you have the Terps finishing?”

Patrick Stevens / D1Scourse: “5-7, 3-5 ACC.”

Pete Volk / Turtle Sports Report: “I also have the Terps at 7-5, but 5-3 in ACC play and 3-2 in the Atlantic Division.”