Commitment Date: July 1, 2012
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
High School: Annapolis Area Christian School
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 205 lbs.
ESPN Rank: #119 OLB, 2-star
Scout.com Rank: N/A, 2-star S
Rivals Rank: N/A, 2-star S
247Sports Rank: #161 S, 2-star
40 time: N/A
Other Offers: None.
Elvis Dennah is a local kid with hometown pride. After his commitment to Maryland, he told Matt Bracken of The Baltimore Sun, “[I’ve always cheered on] every home team – Redskins, Washington Wizards [and] Maryland.” It’s always a good story when a kid has been rooting for a team for his entire life and eventually gets to play for them. It’s definitely every young athlete’s dream. But it’s a lot more than that for Elvis. He isn’t taking this opportunity lightly. He knows that he is a two-star recruit. He’s going to have to fight for playing time more often than not. But what better place to do that than your favorite school?
While Dennah played defensive end and linebacker in high school, he will play safety for the Terps. This gives Randy Edsall and his staff quite the large amount of talent at the safety position for the next few years. Dennah’s name goes onto a list of players that includes Matt Robinson, Anthony Nixon, Sean Davis, Milan Collins, and A.J. Hendy. Dennah’s linebacking background would probably put him in the running for the strong safety position, but he could also play a role similar to Kenneth Tate’s the last few seasons.
Tate is a former strong safety who moved to outside linebacker for the Terps in 2011. He played a role that some teams call “Rover”. With his diversity, the Terps were able to play 3-3-5 defenses at times, with Tate becoming that extra defensive back. He was a coverage-based linebacker, and if the Terps ever need a guy like that, Elvis Dennah could be the guy. But Dennah also has that pass-rushing background from his days playing defensive end in high school. This adds another element to his game, and allows him to be very diverse on the Terps’ roster. While Dennah still projects to be a safety for the Terps, he could play multiple different positions, making his fight for playing time just a little bit easier.
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: zack.kiesel@baltimoresportsandlife.com.