Former Maryland CB Tarheeb Still tabbed Chargers' breakout player in 2025

Ahmed Ghafir
May 28
2 min read

After becoming a mainstay in the Los Angeles Chargers’ secondary in 2025, PFF tabbed former Maryland cornerback Tarheeb Still as the team’s breakout player heading into 2025.

“Still played a key role for the Chargers defense as a fifth-round rookie, playing over 800 defensive snaps throughout the year as the team suffered from a shortage of starters. The team brought in two outside corner options in free agency, Benjamin St-Juste and Donte Jackson, which will open up Still to play more in the slot in 2025 – the role he performed better in this past year, earning an 81.7 coverage grade and 81.8 overall grade from the slot compared to a 68.0 coverage grade and 68.9 overall grade lined up wide.”

Heading into year two and with veteran Khalil Mack taking him under his wing, training together every Friday, Still is already coming off a breakout season after totaling 45 tackles, four interceptions and one defensive touchdown in 12 starts and 14 appearances.

"I told Coach [Ben Herbert], 'See you Monday,'" Still told the local media on Tuesday. "Then Khalil [Mack] was like, 'Why are you not coming in tomorrow?' I said, 'You know what, you're right.' Next morning, I met him in the weight room and we got to work in. After that, it was an every Friday thing."

“I love when you see young players run towards great players, greatness and not the other direction,” defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale said. “It’s awesome to mimic their habits and what they do, especially their good habits, and Tarheeb has really done that. He’s really grown up and matured.”

Still was the lone Terp to be mentioned, though one-time Maryland pledge and former Illinois DL Jer’Zhan Newton was named a breakout candidate to watch for the Commanders in 2025 as head coach Mike Locksley nearly secured another NFL talent to anchor the program in year two.

“Coach Locks, he really understands his players. He relates to them. He really wants to see everybody win whether it’s in next level football or whether it’s in life,” Still said about Locksley on The Rich Eisen Show last month. “He always preaches graduate and get your degree. And he really just wants to see guys win. He does a lot for them. He puts a lot of time into it and then he also has a lot of resources available [to] us. We had like a mentorship program, he put us with mentors with really successful people in the business world. Like they’re dentists or just a lot of different fields.”

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