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Image Credit: Panoramio

While the University of Maryland is still covered in snow, it’s never too cold to begin thinking about Terrapins football. 2015 recruiting is finally wrapped up, and 2016 recruiting is in full swing. So what should we be talking about this week in College Park?

(Discuss this article on the BSL Message Board here.)

Dwayne Haskins

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding 4-star 2016 QB Dwayne Haskins (Potomac, MD). He will be in attendance at Maryland’s junior day this weekend, and recently wrapped up a visit to Rutgers. 247Sports believes that he is trending towards the Terrapins, as do most analysts. He will reportedly make his announcement in April. Haskins would be the best quarterback recruit to attend Maryland in a long time. While he is listed as a pro-style quarterback, he is more than mobile enough to run Mike Locksley’s spread-option system. His arm is absolutely phenomenal, and the touch that he is able to put on the ball is amazing. He played in a pro-style system at The Bullis School, so he knows how to make tough throws into man-coverage. When LSU and Cam Cameron are coming at a quarterback as hard as they are, you know he’s something special. Just check out his highlight video below:

Spring Practice

It was recently announced that Maryland’s spring practice will begin on March 2, just a few weeks away. It was also announced that the annual Red-White Spring Game will take place on April 11. There are quite a few positional battles to keep an eye on this spring. The biggest battles will take place on the offensive line. Many positions are wide open, with quite a few young players hoping to make a name for themselves. 2014 recruits Derwin Gray and Damian Prince will surely be competing at both tackle positions, while other players like Michael Dunn, Andrew Zeller, Sal Conaboy, and Brendan Moore fighting for jobs on the interior of the line. As a refresher, here is how I see the line shaking out:

LT – Damian Prince
LG – Sal Conaboy
C – Stephen Grommer OR Brendan Moore
RG – Michael Dunn
RT – Derwin Gray

On the defensive side of the ball, some of the biggest competition will come for jobs within the Front 7. The nose tackle position is wide open, with Adam McLean hoping to make an immediate impact as a true freshman. Quinton Jefferson returns from injury at defensive end, but who takes the strong-side spot? I am very high on Roman Braglio, who has seen decent playing time behind Andre Monroe in previous years. Three linebacker spots need to be figured out, including both inside spots. I really like Jermaine Carter, Jr. on the inside, as well as Abner Logan. They have really bulked up over their past two years on campus, and are ready to start for Brian Stewart’s defense. Replacing Matt Robinson on the outside will be a good bit tougher, but Cavon Walker should be ready for a starting job. He has received some playing time over the past few years, and I like how he plays. He, like Jermaine Carter, Jr., Jalen Brooks, and Yannick Ngakoue, was one of the many linebackers that Randy Edsall and his staff brought in for their 2013 class.

Caleb Rowe

It was also announced recently that Maryland QB Caleb Rowe would get an extra year of eligibility, making him a Terrapin through the 2016 season. This is certainly good news, as the talent behind Rowe is a bit thin as of right now. While many Maryland fans spent the majority of the 2014 season pining for more playing time for Rowe, his skill-set is completely different from C.J. Brown’s. While Brown was an excellent runner at the quarterback position, Rowe is not nearly mobile enough to run the same offense that Brown ran. So how does Mike Locksley change the offense to suit the less mobile Rowe?

First of all, he will not be moving to a pro-style offense. Rowe will not take many snaps under center, and the team will not change their philosophies offensively. This will still be a spread offense, with Rowe taking most of his snaps from pistol or shotgun formations. It will still be a no-huddle offense that wants to push the tempo after big plays and first downs. There will be some differences in play-calling, however.

With C.J. Brown taking the snaps, most of Maryland’s running game came from a variety of option plays. Zone-reads, inverted veers, midline reads, speed options, and even designed quarterback draws and power plays. Most of those will go out the window when Rowe is taking the snaps. However, don’t expect Mike Locksley to abandon the option game entirely. When Caleb Rowe saw playing time over the past few seasons, he showed enough mobility to run inverted veers, midline reads, and speed options. These plays don’t rely on his ability to get to the edge. Instead, they rely on the running back to get to the edge, while the quarterback gets a few yards if the defense keys on the back.

While certain option plays will certainly still be in play with Rowe at quarterback, expect Locksley to throw the ball a bit more than he did with C.J. Brown. Rowe’s strength is his arm, so while the number one priority will be to get the running game going, the team may be able to lean on the passing game just a bit more in 2015. Rowe has struggled with his accuracy so far in his Maryland career, something that will have to change if the Terrapins are to have success in the passing game. Most of Maryland’s passing game comes on short and intermediate passes, with deep passes coming off of play-action.

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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