The success of Maryland football’s passing offense has been well documented under Mike Locksley after finishing inside the top-three most passing yards per game in the Big Ten since Taulia Tagovailoa joined the program ahead of the 2020 season. Heading into the 2025 season, Maryland will have a new starting quarterback under center whether it be Justyn Martin or Malik Washington behind steady confidence in the unit from Locksley.
“We got five other quarterbacks in our program. We recruited Khristian Martin, who was one of the top players out of [the] state of Virginia two years ago, traveled with us. Champ Long played in a couple of series in the Penn State game a year ago. So we have names and quarterbacks that we think obviously are capable to do the job,” Locksley said during Tuesday’s spring ball press conference. “Obviously, we recruited Malik [Washington]. It's been well-documented the efforts we put into recruiting a player of his caliber. I've played freshmen quarterback.”
But the question isn’t whether Maryland can move the ball through the air – it’s whether the offense can find a way to create more balance with the ground game looking to gain momentum beginning in the spring. Nolan Ray is set to lead a unit tasked with replacing Roman Hemby, who will spend his final season at Indiana, while a host of underclassmen look to separate themselves. To newly-minted offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, the need to establish the ground game “has to be a focus.”
“That's why this conference is called the Big Ten. It's all about the big people up front. And we feel great about the depth that we have in the competitions that we have for the different positions on our offensive line.”
After being limited to just three carries in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury, Ray emerged as the primary backup behind Hemby in 2025 where he averaged exactly five yards per carry, flashing his big play potential in space. The buzz around the Michigan native dates back to last spring after proving himself as the next up-and-coming playmaker in the offense, but he isn’t the only one looking to make a dent after DeJuan Williams, a former four-star out of Saint Frances (Md.), emerged in the rotation to close out 2024.
“DeJuan was kind of coming off of an injury out of high school. He's going to be really, really good for us this year,” new running backs coach Louis Swaba said of the sophomore.
Maryland also signed a pair of local running backs last recruiting cycle as one of the two, former four-star Iverson Howard out of Quince Orchard, was among the ten early enrollees to arrive in January.
“Iverson has been here for the spring. He's done a really good job, really picked up this offense really well, which is good because this is an NFL-style offense. And I thought at times, it might be a little struggle for those guys, but he's done a great job.”
As Hamilton looks to find the answer to the Terps’ woes on the ground, Swaba will look to be part of the solution in 2025 in his first on-field role and after two years of consistent praise surrounding the longtime quality control assistant, who joined the program ahead of Locksley’s first season.
“It was very exciting,” Swaba said. “I really appreciate coach Locks and this opportunity he's afforded me, but, you know, I'm just ready to kind of get to work and get things going.”
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