In the next few weeks leading up to national signing day we’re going to be taking a look at the positional groups in Maryland’s 2017 recruiting class. First we’re going to start the guys who stand behind center.
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So far Maryland has only one quarterback committed in the class of and it looks like it’s going to stay that way between now and signing day, but that one commitment is huge for the Terps. Four-star QB Kasim Hill out of St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) committed to Maryland in April and has looked to be solid for the Terps over the last several months. For a team that has struggled with consistency at the quarterback position over the past several seasons and last year saw Dwayne Haskins, thought to be Maryland’s quarterback of the future, decommit from the Terps for Ohio State less than a month before National Signing Day, getting a QB of Hill’s caliber could be program-changing.
Although quarterback play was drastically improved from the 2015 season, in which Maryland performed historically bad, Hill has the potential to start from the moment he steps on campus.
Standing at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, he has good size for the position and when you combine that with good athleticism Hill is everything that you look for in a college quarterback physically. He is more of a pass-first pro-style quarterback, but he moves well enough to succeed in offensive coordinator Walt Bell’s run-heavy spread offense.
Hill has decent arm strength for a Big 10 quarterback but won’t wow anyone with the zip he gets behind the ball. Where he really excels as a passer is with the accuracy and touch on his throws. He throws a very catchable ball and is very good at leading receivers which can lead to a lot of yardage after the catch. Hill is very good when it comes to deep routes and puts excellent touch on fades, placing the ball where only his receiver can make the catch.
Mentally he has the makeup to succeed right away. Bell’s offense isn’t overly complex and Hill has shown the ability to pick up an offense in his first year in the system, as he did at St. John’s this fall after transferring from Gilman. He typically doesn’t take too many risks with the ball and usually makes the right decision, which is impressive for a quarterback his age. The other side of that is by not taking as many risks he doesn’t extend broken plays into big gains.
The bottom line is with Hill the Terps are getting what they’ve needed for some time, a true game-changing quarterback who could start for four years. He isn’t perfect, but he’s a talented passer who could be Maryland’s best option from the moment he arrives in College Park.
Andrew Feather is a multimedia journalist from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Currently a broadcast journalism major at Elon University in Elon, N.C., Feather serves as the Assistant Sports Director of Elon Local News, the school’s award winning, student-run news broadcast.