Local TE Brayden Marko becomes sixth pledge in Maryland football's 2026 class

Ahmed Ghafir
May 31
2 min read

Gonzaga (DC) tight end Brayden Marko wasn’t scheduled to officially visit until next month, but that didn’t stop him from becoming the sixth commitment in Maryland’s 2026 class after announcing on Saturday evening.

With assistant Aazaar Abdul-Rahim leading the way and tight ends coaches Hal Hunter and Jarrod James chipping in, Maryland has remained consistent with the all-WCAC tight end after offering back on April 4 following an unofficial visit to campus.

“I talked to the tight ends coach before and after practice for a while. It was definitely a cool experience being up there, sitting through the meetings,” Marko told IBG. “I talked to [head] coach [Mike Locksley] during practice then he was the one who offered at the end. He said it’s hard nowadays to find a tight end these days that’s so dynamic, that’s able to want to block and also be able to run passes at the same time. I’m the complete package and it’s hard to find tight ends like me these days.”

Temple, Cornell, Dartmouth, Army and Buffalo are among the schools who have offered the 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end who materialized into a first-team all-WCAC selection as a junior. Marko becomes the first local in the tight end room, though Maryland will look for plenty more after Bullis TE Javonte 'JJ' Williams officially visited this weekend and Bishop McNamara ATH Jianni Davis is expected on campus next weekend.

Marko joins St. Frances (Md.) trio Zion Elee, Damon Hall and Khmari Bing along with St. Albans (DC) safety Zahir Cobb and Georgia linebacker Kaden Carter.

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