After Dontay Joyner dismissed, Maryland football turning in-house to replenish cornerback depth

Aug 6

2 min read

Maryland football kicked off fall camp with a shakeup on its roster after head coach Mike Locksley announced that the program has “mutually decided” to part ways with senior cornerback Dontay Joyner ahead of the first practice.

Though expected, the news marked a “huge loss” for Maryland’s cornerback room, as Locksley noted, a unit that once boasted three NFL Draft prospects as Joyner looks ahead at the opportunity to potentially play elsewhere in 2027.

“He's a guy that deserves another chance. We just felt like because of what he went through here in the state of Maryland, he probably needs a fresh shot,” head coach Mike Locksley said.

Yet with fall camp roughly two days in and 30 days until the regular season opener, Maryland will now turn in-house to address the position with several freshmen eyeing the opportunity to step in.

“What we [have] got to do here in the next three, four weeks is find out how we can better ourselves with expediting the growth of some of our new corners that are part of our program,” Locksley added.

Defensive coordinator Ted Monachino noted that identifying the starting outside and nickel corners are a priority because “we’re going to play 70% of our snaps in that personnel grouping,” a similar split to last season. Yet the outside corners have little concern about who is leading the room with Jamare Glasker and Amari Jackson stepping into those roles as they’ve been in the spring, though who else can emerge as quality depth – and where – is the question for fall camp to answer.

Maryland does have some experienced pieces in the room with former walk-on and converted wide receiver Ricardo Cooper adding speed to the unit. After working with the safeties in the spring, Judah Jenkins was working with the cornerback room during Wednesday’s practice where he has an opportunity to become a fixture in the two-deep as he looks to re-prove himself following his year-long recovery that sidelined him through 2025. Jenkins offers versatility in the secondary after flashing as a true freshman, but there’s also quality freshman to also track through camp.

That starts with Darrell Carey and Zahir Cobb, the former arriving in Jan. ahead of the latter enrolling in mid-June. Both listed at 6-foot-2, the two freshmen add size to the position as Cobb’s 80-inch wingspan adds length to a room that Darrell Carey adds physicality to. They aren’t the only ones as Hakim Satterwhite, also listed at 6-foot-2, joined Carey among the early enrollees where he was able to settle in through spring ball while Ontario Washington is settled in after enrolling in June with Cobb.

Jenkins’ experience in the secondary could give him an edge alongside Glasker and Jackson at the start of camp, but how the room fares will be a question answered through August.

“That clump of guys behind them, at this stage, I think you throw them all up in the air and whatever order they come down in is going to be the order that they find a role,” Monachino said of the unit’s depth.

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