Chris Durr on adjusting to Maryland football, what he brings, Malik Washington

Ahmed Ghafir
5 hours ago
5 min read

Maryland football has a big void to fill at the top of its wide receiver room, but new portal wide receiver Chris Durr Jr. will be a big part of the solution after a breakout sophomore season at Wyoming. The shifty slot receiver joined Glenn Clark Radio on Wednesday to dive into expectations for this season, what he brings, his relationship with QB Malik Washington and more:

On how he landed at Wyoming

“Just being severely undersized. I was like, I ain't gonna lie, I was like 5-foot-10, 140 [pounds] coming out of high school. So that was the only school [that] really gave me opportunity to play early and I wanted to play early, so I just wanted to go there and prove myself that I can do it. And I put on the weight, I put on like 25 pounds when I went to college. So yeah, just playing and Wyoming was like they [were] the only school that gave me [an] opportunity, so that's why I ended up there.”

On gaining weight

“I actually put on 15 more pounds. Shoutout the nutrition. Shoutout Addie [Quinn] and all of the coach [Ryan Davis] and my coaches just staying on me about getting big and getting stronger because this is the Big Ten.”

“I'm at 176.”

On noticing the weight gain

“Definitely. Just having more armor on it. I bounce off the hit sometimes because if you can see I'm kind of slippery, so just putting on a little bit more weight…and I got faster too.”

On his transfer to Maryland

“Like when I had a breakout game against Akron, my high school coach, like he was telling – he wasn't recruiting me, but he was like, ‘man, keep doing your thing. Like, you feel me? You got eyes on you.’ And I'm just like, cause he was here, he was actually here on the staff and stuff like that. So he just told me keep doing my thing and stuff like that. And at the end of the season, they [were] like really when I got in the portal, it was really like one of the main schools, just on me, talking to me every day, hitting me up and stuff like that. So I just wanted to get an opportunity. And figuring out that Locks, a guy like Locks was here, his resume is endless. So just the guys that he coached it’s like I gotta be under that. And then you know having a threat like Malik [Washington] at quarterback it’s like, why not?”

On knowing the history of Maryland’s WRs

“I was definitely aware. Tai [Felton], his last season was actually my freshman year, so just he was a guy that was heavily talked about for…winning a Biletnikoff Award. And yeah, I was definitely aware about the receivers because I actually came on a visit to Maryland like when I was a junior in high school. I was here because my 7-on-7 team came up to Maryland and I was just always like, damn, I want to go to Maryland.”

On what he remembers from that visit

“I remember like getting heighted and weighted, and they [were] like, man, he's small.”

On QB Malik Washington in 2025

“I'm not gonna lie to you, I wasn't too aware about Malik because like you said, it was a school all the way on the other side of the country, and I was just trying to focus and get my situation right in Wyoming. But as the season came to an end, I started doing my research, and I was like, man, he [is] the real deal. And I went back and watched every game from last year, just seeing like although things didn't go the right way, like how poised he was, how he was always calm, keeping the energy up, always just being himself. And that's a guy I want to play under and be a guy that he can count on when things are tough.”

On building chemistry with Malik Washington

“Just building the connection, just being yourself, just always, just like any time hanging out. Like me and Malik, when I first got here, he had let me come to his house and we had played a game together. Just, stuff like that.

“Just building that connection because it's like it's not all about football. It's just about connecting, like as people. So I feel like me and me and Malik did that like heavily just going like going places like just talking to them like playing around and stuff like that and I just feel like that built only built our connection on the field even better.”

On being a newcomer, how to bridge the gap

“It's just all the help in the receiver room, just all the guys just coming together, just being a brotherhood. Like not only just me, it's just all of us. Like them just embracing our role of me and Na’eem [Abdul-Rahim] Gladding coming in, being newcomers. Just us just being there, just working with them. Like us just being like, alright…it's gonna be a new receiver corp. We [are] gonna come and we gonna work harder. We [are] gonna catch more balls. We [are] gonna do more extra work to make sure those results doesn't happen again. And that's no discredit to the guys that [were] here last year.”

On returning to winning football

“And our coaches told us, remind about it every day. We coming out, we are the standard. It's no such thing as pressure. Pressure is only what you put on yourself. And if you put the pressure on yourself, then that's on you. And we and I feel like as a receiver corp, as a whole team, we don't do that. It's always next play. It's always next moment. Can't be worried about what happened last year or if you dropped the ball or if anything goes bad because it's always the next play.”

On getting over the hump

“Going out here every day. Guys are out here just showing up, just showing up, coming to practice, being fired up. Although we do have some slow days.”

On embracing the state flag

“I mean, you can see what I got on. I always got the Maryland gear on…I definitely like the flag, though. It's definitely unique, has different colors.”

The best part about his game

“I feel like the best part of my game is just being able to turn nothing into something. Being able to - like I remember…I had like a 65 yard touchdown, just catching the over route, just things like that. Just being able to stretch the field, be able to be a dynamic player, real dynamic. So yeah, y'all gonna see a lot of that this year. Just, keep staying tuned to every day we gonna be working.”

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