Jalen Huskey becomes latest Maryland football star in Shrine Bowl

Ahmed Ghafir
Dec 29, 2025
2 min read

Maryland safety Jalen Huskey will play one more game before shifting his attention to the NFL Draft after being selected in the Shrine Bowl, the program announced on Monday.

Huskey was one of five players selected to the Shrine Bowl 1000 Watch List ahead of the 2025 season alongside OL Aliou Bah, wide receiver Jalil Farooq, tight end Dorian Fleming and defensive back Jamare Glasker.

Maryland saw four players participate in last season's Shrine Bowl including wide receiver Kaden Prather, safety Glen Miller and defensive lineman Tommy Akingbesote and Jordan Phillips. Huskey was also named to the 2026 Senior Bowl Top 300 list ahead of the 2025 season, but his play in his second and final season has cemented him as an NFL Draft prospect.

Huskey, a second team All-Big Ten selection, finished the 2025 season leading the defense and tied for fourth in the Big Ten with four interceptions, a big part of Maryland's 17 interceptions that led the country. His three interceptions over a four-game span helped Maryland stay competitive during the start of Big Ten play, while Huskey finished second on teh team with 72 tackles, also the sixth-most by a defensive back in the Big Ten this season. The productive season came one year after transitioning from cornerback to safety with buzz dating back to the spring that the now-veteran emerged as one of Maryland's best defensive players.

“A year ago early on, he was tested, and I just saw the kid keep battling,” head coach Mike Locksley said about Huskey during the offseason. “Very similar track to what I saw the young guys like Deonte Banks and Tarheeb Still, how they started out rough early in their careers, but as they earned those calluses and they got those scars, you started to see the ability. We saw that out of Jalen Huskey this spring.”

A former Bowling Green transfer who ended his high school career at nearby Quince Orchard, ESPN’s analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranked senior safety Jalen Huskey as the seventh-best draft-eligible safety in 2026. Huskey was one of five Big Ten safeties included on the list headlined by Ohio State star Caleb Downs with Zakee Wheatley, current Penn State safety and Spalding (MD) product, ranked one spot ahead of Huskey. Dane Brugler of The Athletic previously ranked Jalen Huskey the 12th best draft-eligible safety prospect heading into the 2025 season.

Huskey has a chance to become the seventh defensive back out of Maryland drafted since 2019, joining Darnell Savage, Antoine Brooks, Nick Cross, Deonte Banks, Jakorian Bennett, Tarheeb Still and Dante Trader Jr.

“He's a guy that has corner skill set while playing in deep part of the field, which allows us a lot more versatility because he can play man coverage,” Locksley said during the spring. “He can cover slots, he can cover tight ends, and that adds value to our defense when you have a safety that has that ability to match up the way Jalen allows us to.”

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