Billy Edwards Jr. named QB transfer to watch in 2025 offseason
- Ahmed Ghafir
- Dec 6, 2024
- 3 min read
Maryland football fans breathed out one last collective sigh of relief after Spalding (MD) four-star quarterback Malik Washington was among the first signatures on the morning of the early signing period. The longtime pursuit of the local two-sport athlete cements the future at the position as he’ll arrive in College Park in late January. He'll join a quarterback room that’s expected to be headlined by quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., but Maryland’s starting quarterback found himself in the rumor mill this week.
Listed among six other Power Four and seven total quarterbacks, Edwards was listed in the ‘top tier’ of transfer portal quarterbacks to watch by ESPN on Thursday.
ESPN: “The successor to Big Ten career passing yards leader Taulia Tagovailoa maintained Maryland's production, finishing second in the league behind Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in passing yards (2,881) and completions (273) despite missing time in the final two games with a thumb injury. Edwards had a strong start to the season, displaying accuracy and eclipsing 250 passing yards in Maryland's first seven games. He lit up USC's defense for a career-high 373 passing yards and two touchdowns in the Terrapins' best win of the season. Edwards late-season struggles mirrored the team's, as he completed less than 60% of his passes in losses to Northwestern, Minnesota, Oregon and Rutgers, and had six interceptions and two touchdown passes in those games. The Virginia native and former Wake Forest transfer has good size at 6-foot-4 and 219 pounds and made a good impression on Big Ten opponents. One Big Ten staff felt he was the best QB they faced in league play. If Edwards does decide to enter the portal, several personnel sources believe Michigan would be a school to watch if the Wolverines seek a one-year senior pickup to pair with No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood.”
While it remains expected that he returns for his second season as the starting quarterback, Edwards hasn’t formally announced his decision to return to Maryland in 2025 though the expectation is he’ll be back for his fourth season with the program as Maryland continues to fight off outside NIL interest like they did with Taulia Tagovailoa two offseasons ago.
“I'm excited about Billy returning in the system for a second starting season, possibly,” head coach Mike Locksley said ahead of the Iowa game. “I'm excited for the unknown people that you referenced to be here. I'm excited to be able to add a bunch of pieces. If you if you really want to know, that's the optimism I have, if you want to write that in your column, that's the optimism I have. Is that, you know what, we've built and designed a structure and strategies that have allowed us to grow this program.”
Edwards outlasted MJ Morris and Cam Edge for the starting quarterback job through fall camp to fill the shoes left vacant by Taulia Tagovailoa. Edwards, who arrived in the program as a transfer from Wake Forest in 2022, finished second in the Big Ten with 2,881 passing yards while adding 20 total touchdowns to nine interceptions in his first full season as the starter. He set the program record for completion percentage (87.5%) vs. Villanova, while his 273 completions in 2024 are fifth-most in program history. Edwards completed 39 passes vs. USC, the second-most of the Locksley era and third-most in program history.
Related Links
