While Maryland men’s and women’s basketball prepare for their postseason runs with, Maryland football will also look to turn the page onto year seven of the Mike Locksley era when they kick off spring ball beginning March 25.
For a team that lost nearly two-thirds of its starters from a season ago, Maryland enters the spring with question marks, but arguably none are bigger than the quarterback position—the unit that ESPN circled when examining the conference.
“The Terrapins face a challenging offseason after going 1-8 in the Big Ten last year before losing several key players to the transfer portal, including quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. (Wisconsin). Finding a new QB starter who can thrive – whether it's UCLA transfer Justyn Martin or ESPN 300 incoming freshman Malik Washington – will be key to any turnaround,” Jake Trotter wrote.
Martin and Washington headline a revamped room that also lost MJ Morris, a former NC State transfer who spent just one season in the program, while Khristian Martin and Champ Long return for their second and third seasons. While all eyes have been on Washington as the quarterback of the future and face of the program, getting the true freshman comfortable before his first action has been the focus. Meanwhile, former UCLA and current Maryland QB Justyn Martin joined the program back in January where he’s become an immediate leader on the offense side of the ball as he looks for his experience to lead him into the starting role, which may not be announced similar to 2024.
That hasn’t stopped Martin from bonding with his new teammates while the transfer took a handful of offensive linemen out to dinner last week. And for good reason, questions around the offensive line aren’t fare behind with two starting spots – LT and LG – up for grabs. Maryland signed Rahtrel Perry and Javin James to beef up the tackle position while with Perry a potential starter, while former blue-chip OT Jaylen Gilchrist has impressed in his first weeks with the program. Still, the offensive line was tabbed as the “position of intrigue” as addressing the unit remains another storyline with Damian Wroblewski taking over as the unit’s position coach, Hal Hunter taking over the OT/TE positions while assistant Jarrod James is the third coach to work with the unit in 2025.
“The offensive line struggled last year, finishing with a Big Ten-worst 39.7% blown block rate. The arrivals of Akron transfer Jayvin James and ESPN 300 signee Jaylen Gilchrist could help boost a running game that averaged just 3.59 yards per attempt in 2024,” ESPN wrote.
While the wide receiver room will also have new faces to lean on with both Tai Felton and Kaden Prather destined to become, at least, day three selections in the 2025 NFL Draft, former Wise (Md.) star and Oklahoma WR Jalil Farooq was tabbed as the player to watch heading into the spring.
“Jalil Farooq caught 89 career passes at Oklahoma until breaking his foot in the opener last season. He has the talent to give Maryland a game breaker at wideout with All-Big Ten performer Tai Felton gone.”
Farooq won’t be the only one at Maryland’s starting quarterback’s disposal with former Tennessee WR Kaleb Webb joining Octavian Smith and Shaleak Knotts as Latrell Scott, previously the running backs coach, takes over the unit.
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