Maryland kept their July commitment run alive on Saturday afternoon after Canarsie (NY) three-star defensive end Dillan Fontus and safety Tayvon Nelson became the latest to join the Terps class. The New York duo become the 17th and 18th commitments in Maryland’s 2023 class as the Terps capitalized on two of their top targets.
For Canarsie defensive line coach Gerald Huggins, coaching Fontus through his 6-foot-5, 260-pound frame has led to concrete developments as a future interior lineman.
“Really good kid, really humble kid. Big kid, really raw when I met him. You could tell he just has a natural ability to move his body and cantour his body in different ways that you need in a defensive lineman,” Huggins told Inside the Black and Gold. “His hips are good, he’s getting more flexible as he’s gone. Big feet, wears a size 17.” Fontus has the frame to play inside and out at the high school level, but his strength sits as an interior lineman. “When he gets a little bigger, he’ll probably be around 280, 285. He’ll be a solid three-tech in the 3-4 system or a 4i, five-technique guy. Has the ability to be a five-technique in a 4-3 as well, he can play the outside edge, he can be an edge rusher but his big low center of gravity he can definitely be a very, very good interior defensive lineman at the next level.”
Fontus got a chance to watch Maryland’s defensive line room during a spring practice and kept close tabs on how defensive coordinator Brian Williams works with the position as he emphasized the fundamentals. With Mosiah Nasili-Kite and Ami Finau exhausting eligibility after the upcoming fall season, Fontus will see more time inside than out as Canarsie prepares him for the next level.
“Another thing I wanted him to work on that he’s progressed with is just reading and identifying what blocks are happening to you. A bump block, double team, down block, pass block, just being able to react to it, follow your key and play against it. The double team has come along really well, he’s 6-5, he has really big legs so when he sits down and he doesn’t want to move, it’s hard to move him. He’s become way better with his hands. Everybody knows defensive linemen, it’s your hips, hands and feet. He has a really good get off, his get off has grown. I had to fix his stance a little bit, he needed to put his butt a little low so now we’ve raised his butt a little higher to give him more of a sprinter stance.”
Huggins added that given his lower body strength and the ability to hang clean in the “mid-200s,” Fontus will line up at noseguard this year where “his four-point stance gives him a little more leverage to make more lateral movements. He’s able to strike and bring the hips and that’s making him more susceptible to be able to create a new line of scrimmage.”
Through the development of the details in Fontus’s skillset, Huggins has watched the new Maryland commit improve his football IQ over the last year. “When I first met him, he knew what he was trying to say but he couldn’t talk football. Now he can talk football, he can actually explain what this move is, why he did that, why the defense is doing that.”
As far as off the field, there are no concerns when it comes to Fontus.
“Dillan has a bunch of siblings that he helps take care of with his mom. He’s very smart, smart kid. He makes you think, he’s kind of a philosopher at times. When we’re on a water break or something, he’ll randomly talk about a new philosophy he has or whatever he thinks. He’s part of some different community organizations, as well.
While Fontus was the first teammate to add the Maryland offer, it was safety Tayvon Nelson who told the Maryland staff of his intention to join the 2023 class first. That helped the Terps’ chances as the pair of early enrollees look to make their mark early in their college careers and in the eyes of Canarsie defensive backs coach David Nooks, Nelson showed signs of a complete defensive back midway through his junior season.
“Last year we started off hot and we ran into a bumpy game, he didn’t have his best game. I said to him the greats always bounce back from this ten times better and after that game, he hit a run and did everything,” Nooks told Inside the Black and Gold. “Tackling, interceptions. In playoffs, he took over. In the semifinal game that we lost, he had a forced fumble, two big interceptions that put us in position to do something in the game.”
Nooks time as a Division II assistant helped give Nelson college-level training “and then I started to see his game progress from a mental standpoint.”
“Once that started happening, the developments in his film he started making more cleaner plays, more plays on the ball. He’s a great open-field tackler and that was what stands out, especially at the high school level. Open field tackling is one thing that coaches want to see you do and that’s one of the things that separates him from some of the other [defensive backs] in the state.”
Given he joins the Maryland program as a safety, that will be where Nelson sees the majority of his defensive snaps this fall but his skill set as a lockdown cornerback makes him a vital part in Canarsie’s secondary. “At this level, we want to take away the best receiver and where we’re at, there’s probably one dominant guy and Tayvon would take him out of the game.”
Nooks cited Nelson’s range, agility, ball skills and tackling ability for reasons why he can become a productive college safety with the Terps replacing Isaiah Hazel following the 2022 season. “His fast twitch, a little bit of his fluidity so we’ve been focusing on those things and just fine-tuning things that he’s good at. His press man coverage, working the slot, covering a lot more from the slot position because as a safety with his versatility, if you can cover that slot it’s more of a reason for college coaches to keep you on the field and I think he has that ability and that’s one of the things we were working on this offseason. His coverage ability from the inside and just his overall fast-twitch game.”
Just like Fontus Nelson has no concerns off the field.
“He’s locked in. Some kids, when they have that type of talent, they want to be in the limelight. He just wants to work, he wants to get better at his game. I haven’t seen a kid that puts the blinders up at this age before. Kids are kids, but he’s strictly school, football and put myself in a position to live my dream.”
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Great quotes from the coaches providing quality analysis. Awesome to hear that both are high character additions too! The cultural overhaul that Locks has instilled into this program has been nothing short of spectacular. That can’t be overstated!
This is remarkable content, Ahmed. Can’t find anything like this anywhere else. Love it!
Cream rises to the top - Nice size
Love the in-depth breakdown of the new commits. Both seem like quality adds to the program.