2026 Maryland football class superlatives: most upside, best recruiting win, most underrated

Ahmed Ghafir
2 days ago
6 min read

With Maryland football’s 2026 class officially signed after day one of the early signing period, announcing a 16-man class with 11 early enrollees: QB Nathan Bernhard, DL Cam Brickle II, SAF Darrell Carey, LB Kaden Carter, edge Zion Elee, WR Jayden Kitchens, OL Day’jon Moore, CB Hakim Satterwhite, WR Josiah Teasley, DL Jamarcus Whyce and TE Javonte Williams. With that, we dish out class superlatives, starting with the headliner:

Biggest signing: five-star edge Zion Elee

The obvious candidate, Elee put pen to paper exactly 361 days after shocking the recruiting world and announcing his decision to verbally commit to staying home to play at Maryland. There were plenty of twists and turns along the way – shutting down his recruitment, finalizing a full slate of visits, cancelling the visits, two ‘secret’ officials – but the sentiment pointed to Maryland as the most likely destination through it all. Confidence on the five-star never wavered in College Park with Elee transparent with Maryland throughout, which can’t be said about the hopeful flip contenders. Elee also serves as a monumental on-field recruiting win as the program’s highest-rated signee.

Testing consistently in the 4.4 range in the 40 with a 4.35 time at SFA's Pro Day in the spring, Elee heads to College Park as one of the most explosive edge rushers with a first step that's easy to spot while possessing a 35.5-inch wingspan. Elee expectedly dominated against inferior competition, games that also gave him a chance to play kick/punt return along with running back, but the five-star had to battle through increased attention against the premier teams with routine double teams, still at times finding his way into the backfield to disrupt the play. Elee has all the physical traits and a frame to play around 235 in college with January giving him his first test of adjusting to the day-to-day structure of a Power Four program.

Most upside: three-star TE Javonte Williams

Williams is viewed locally as a hidden gem with the most upside as a dynamic receiving threat in the room. After jumping into the picture mid-spring and beating out Pitt and NC State, Maryland remained in near daily contact with the local athlete with Jerrod James and James Thomas teaming up throughout, and with his signature officially in, the local athlete provides optimism to the future of the receiving threat in the TE room.

Bullis HC Skyler Springs previously told IBG “from what I’m told, he’ll play more of the hybrid type of tight end that they have and run a bunch of routes still and show off his receiving skills” – giving Williams a chance to do what he does best. Williams fits the mold of a receiving threat in Mike Locksley’s offense after measuring at 6-foot-4, 220-pounds on signing day where he can excel as a receiver into the second level and thrive in the RPO game, adding confidence to the trajectory of a room headlined by Dorian Fleming and JT Taggart preparing for year two.

Williams initially worked toward early enrollment at Bullis before it was blocked, leading him to transfer to Northwest where he will now head to College Park in January.

Biggest remaining roster need: WR

This includes the portal with Maryland likely done on the high school side, though the next two months will allow a chance for the staff to evaluate unsigned prospects similar to how former four-star Zahir Mathis landed in the fold a year ago. While both sides of the trenches and safety are among the top needs, arguably no position will command more attention than the wide receiver room with three starting receivers departed. Finding high-end talent to give QB Malik Washington weapons in year two will top the priority board with Maryland expected to an aggressive player once the market officially opens next month.

Best recruiting win: three-star DB Sean Johnson

Initially pegged as the most likely to kick start Maryland’s 2026 class, Johnson ended up becoming one of the final signatures this cycle. Johnson’s recruitment materialized quickly – sources said flip efforts ramped and were finalized all within a two-week span.

Related: DB Sean Johnson to Maryland

Maryland was looking to replenish its depth in the secondary with a chance to elevate the floor of the defensive back room, and Johnson gives the staff exactly that. A dominant single high safety who proved himself inside the box against the run, Johnson showcased his versatility at Spalding where he’s been a personal favorite of head coach Kyle Schmitt and has been viewed as arguably Spalding’s most impactful defensive prospect over the last two years. Johnson has versatility to step into the cornerback room, but his safety experience also adds necessary depth. While safety is also expected to be a focus this offseason in the portal, Johnson is a safe bet to play through redshirt status once he enrolls next June.

Most underrated: WRs Jayden Kitchens & Josiah Teasley

Two of my favorite underrated local prospects just happened to be teammates through the 2025 season. Now, they’ll head to College Park together after Teasley kicked off NSD with the early flip. Maryland had plenty of work to do to chip away in his recruitment after sources said the initial belief was that Maryland was behind the curve on the local 6-foot-5 receiver with several other P4 schools chasing and a commitment to Virginia already solidified. But they kept chipping away thanks to assistant Derek Kief leading the way, though having familiarity on the roster also helped. After initially shying away from finalizing plans to visit Maryland, Teasley made his way to campus for an official visit for the Michigan game where the need was emphasized to the 6-foot-5 receiver who draws comparisons to Dontay Demus out of high school. Still, his recruitment was trending toward Virginia with the ‘Hoos the last school to host him for their regular season finale. But buzz surfaced late Tuesday that the local wideout was no longer expected to sign with Virginia with two local schools still involved: Maryland and Virginia Tech. A source told IBG that the buzz comfortably pointed to Maryland as the pick given the familiarity, need at the position and local aspect with uncertainty around the Hokies’ roster movement.

As for Kitchens, the in-state product has been on Maryland’s radar throughout his high school career dating back to his days at Rock Creek before turning up the heat on the pursuit in late spring, eventually beating out Cincinnati and Virginia Tech to land him in mid-July. Kitchens somewhat kept contact with other schools open, though multiple sources in addition to Kitchens himself reiterated his focus was solely on Maryland through his senior yaer. Kitchens planned to visit Cincinnati in November, primarily to see his former teammate, but those plans didn’t materialize to help cement his commitment status.

Teasley’s flip also marks a key win in the final hour – Maryland worked to sign a pair of high school commits this cycle before looking to restock the position through the portal beginning 2026.

Teasley reminds me of Dontay Demus out of high school – two long wideouts with exceptional athleticism, though Teasley’s route tree may be more developed than Demus at this stage. The high three-star is an obvious candidate in one-on-one situations and proved to be a dynamic piece after scrambling Good Counsel’s secondary all game in the early season win. Adding to his listed 6-foot-5 frame will be next but the local receiver heads to College Park with a high-ceiling, challenging TE Javonte Williams for the superlative.

Critical add: DL Cam Brickle

IBG predicted Maryland to land the Pennsylvania native during the June official visit cycle – then Ohio State have the green light. In the end, Brickle ended up in Maryland’s class where he serves after a pair of gameday visits roughly one month apart with his second visit for the Michigan game solidifying the flip, landing at the school that best prioritized him throughout the pursuit. Brickle is among the expected January enrollees with the IMG Academy prospect viewed as a developmental prospect who excels in run support, giving the interior defensive line a foundational piece alongside Bryce Jenkins.

Biggest surprise: DL Jamarcus Whyce

The longtime target capped off Wednesday’s signing day by flipping his commitment from Purdue to give Maryland a second key pledge in the trenches. Whyce may have been a signing day surprise in terms of decision, but he’s been a familiar name for Maryland. Whyce made his way to College Park for a pair of unofficial visits before following through on an official visit in June, giving Maryland an extended look with Derek Kief leading the way and David Brownlee chipping in throughout the way. Whyce never made it back to College Park since his June visit, instead, keeping in touch with the staff throughout before reaching out to Maryland to flip his commitment less than one day before putting pen to paper. Whyce is now among the early enrollees set to head to College Park in January where Maryland gets to bolster a position of need with a pair of interior linemen bolstering the rotation.

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