BTN crew reviews Maryland football's fall camp practice

Ahmed Ghafir
Aug 4
3 min read

The BTN crew is making the rounds through the Big Ten as fall camp picks up across the country, and Monday’s stop was in College Park where Dave Revsine, Jake Butt and Gerry DiNardo got a look at the fifth practice of fall camp.

But while it did give them a chance to see the bulk of the new faces expected to become impact pieces in 2025, freshman QB Malik Washington was largely absent as head coach Mike Locksley added he hopes the freshman is available “hopefully within the next week.”

“The times we've had opportunities to watch him and see him, he's as advertised and so what we've got to do is get him healthy, got back on the field here, hopefully,” Locksley said when asked about the quarterback battle. While Washington, Justyn Martin and Khristian Martin will be available to local media for Tuesday’s practice, the biggest question is how Maryland will be able to build around an inexperienced unit. And it starts with the run game.

“We have to be able to establish the line of scrimmage in the run game, especially late in the year, and that's what Pep’s expertise has been,” Locksley said.

“That's a big part of us being an advantage-based offense. We got to be able to mirror the consistent passing game that we've had here at Maryland with the ability to run the football, especially in the latter part of the season in the Big Ten,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton added.

While Butt noted “the defensive line looked long, strong”, Hamilton noted the offensive line looking to find chemistry has “made a lot of progress” while reviewing the progression of the ongoing quarterback battle.

“They’ve all been working hard to just really work toward mastery of managing the offense. I’m talking pre-snap. I think in years past, especially with Justyn [Martin] and Malik [Washington], been in systems in which the communication, a lot of it came from the sideline. And now that we’re integrating a bit of being able to call plays in the huddle along with the traditional Maryland offense, what coach Locksley has done through the years and that’s an up temp style of play where we can just call plays at a rapid pace.”

With Butt noted “the ceiling and the floor is going to be determined from their offensive line,” the former Michigan TE noted the “size and strength” of the offensive line despite just 13 offensive linemen available.

What is clear is TE Dorian Fleming will be a big factor in the Terps' offense as BTN analyst Jake Butt predicted the Georgia State transfer will have a "Corey Dyches-type impact" from a few years ago.

On the other side of the ball, Maryland’s defense doesn’t return much starting experience within the system, but the newcomers and rotational pieces from a season ago have brewed quiet optimism around the starting unit under coordinator Ted Monachino. With linebackers Daniel Wingate and Mike Harris behind them, Ohio DL transfer Cam Rice has acclimated well in his first few practices as Maryland looks to restock a unit anchored by Dillan Fontus, Eyan Thomas and Rice.

“I think we're strong up front. I think we're strong in the middle. I think we've got a great group of depth players in the defensive line,” Monachino added. “I think our outside linebacker group has a different group of skills. I think we've got some long and lean and bendy edge players. I think we've got some big, physical edge players. I think inside, we've got quick and guys that can win on their own. Pass rush, we've also got guys that can hold up versus double teams. So I think that that's probably a strength of our defense right now, but I love the two veteran safeties and the two veteran linebackers.”

But special teams is as big of an emphasis for Maryland this offseason after Locksley hired Andre Powell, who inherited Bryce McFerson and added Sean O’Haire to upgrade his units. While McFerson was named among the top draft-eligible punters by Phil steele heading into the season, the addition of O’Haire was expected to stabilize an inconsistent kicking game for Maryland in past seasons as analyst Dave Revsine noted the Terps’ addition.

“If it ends up as a field goal attempt, they’re in good hands. O’Haire has a massive leg.”

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