Maryland senior safety Dante Trader Jr. has been named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday afternoon. He becomes the first Terp to earn the award since Tarheeb Still did so in the road win vs. Nebraska in 2023.
Trader is coming off a career-high 11 tackles in the week three road win vs. Virginia, while he came down with the first interception and second of four takeaways on the night. Through three weeks, Trader leads the defense in tackles (18) and is tied with LB Donnell Brown in pass breakups (2).
Trader and veteran Glen Miller have teamed up along the backline with Lavain Scruggs and Brandon Jacob carving out roles in the rotation as the former two-sport McDonogh star has stepped into a leadership role for the defense.
“The experience over the years, Dante's got three years worth of experience,” head coach Mike Locksley said after the week one win vs. UConn. “Glen Miller can play nickel, can play safety, can play corner. His experience, four years experience there, you saw a bunch of the young guys. Number six, [Brandon] Jacob, gonna be a hell of a player for us. He got some great, meaningful snaps. The way that the safeties – they're like the quarterbacks on defense. And Dante has done a really good job of settling things down.”
Maryland is set to host Villanova this Saturday at SECU Stadium for family weekend. Kickoff is set for noon on the Big Ten Network.
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