Maryland football's quarterback battle building close room on and off the field

Ahmed Ghafir
Aug 6
4 min read

Maryland football’s ongoing quarterback competition isn’t new to head coach Mike Locksley as he and his staff evaluate the unit over the 25 practices through fall camp.

“We will know who our quarterback is on Sunday before we start preparation for game one. We will know. You will know when we walk out the guy that takes the first snap,” Locksley said ahead of the first practice.

In the meantime, the trio of quarterbacks in the mix will look for consistency as the offense finds its groove under new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton while avoiding the chatter about who QB1 will be.

“You take it day by day. World keeps spinning. You take it day by day,” Khristian Martin said. “You’re in camp, you're playing football every day, so just kind of take it day by day, do what you're supposed to do, do what they ask you to do, and you let their decision be their decision.”

Khristian Martin serves as the lone quarterback in the room with a year of Maryland’s system already under his belt, though he wouldn’t call it an advantage. “I think we've all had been coached the same and we've done a great job as a room,” he added as he noted becoming “more accurate of a passer” and “better within this system” were two offseason priorities.

Malik Washington, meanwhile, now has spring ball under his belt as it gave him a chance to adjust to “the speed of the game.”

“Everybody out here is fast, everybody's big, strong and physical. So just getting used to not being the best player on the field anymore. Now it's like you're out here with a bunch of guys who are all the best player in high school and now being able to get everybody together and see what works and what doesn’t.”

Justyn Martin, though, serves as the lone quarterback in the unit to enter 2025 with in-game experience to lean on. The former four-star appeared in two games as a redshirt freshman before making three appearances in 2024, including his first career start at Penn State where he finished 22-of-30 with 167 yards and one touchdown in a 27-11 loss. But it was the type of performance that instilled confidence in Martin that still drives him heading into his junior season. Now feeling “comfortable” with spring ball giving him a chance to pick up the system, Martin recognizes the benefits of having “a great learning experience” to lean on in his first season at Maryland.

“If I put my mind to it, I can't be messed with, honestly,” Justyn Martin said about last year’s start. “Penn State was a great learning experience for me because it was supposed to be a big stage and a great team but it didn't faze me, and I appreciate God for putting me in that situation because that was the one opportunity that I had. And that sense of confidence, like I said earlier, is what that really gave me. And now I know. Like I can do this no matter what, no matter what ups, what downs, I can do this at any given moment.”

Even if Justyn Martin doesn’t win the starting job, he knows he’s made an impact on the program.

“One of the things I'm most proud of here is that at the end of every practice, we get a prayer with the offense. And if I don't do anything else, if I don't throw a yard here, that's the one thing that I can say like I made an impact on this program by just bringing God into it,” he said. “I was really proud about that. We still do it. We had one about ten minutes ago. So that was a big thing for me, because without him, none of this is possible. Like, that's just the cold, hard truth - none of this is possible. And that's why I tell them, like, just believe. Because if you let go and let God, like even if you don't know your assignment and you go full speed, good things can happen. So, that's big for me and throughout this offseason. That's mainly the thing I focused on. Yeah, you got to get timing with the receivers and everything, but I need God first if I'm gonna be successful. Without him I'm not gonna be able to do it at all.”

While the trio battle in hopes of taking their first in-game snaps at Maryland, it’s been clear the quarterback room has grown close off the field as the position battle has developed into healthy competition through the offseason.

“I'm watching their journey, and like comparing it to kind of how I was when I was their age. And it's great to see that they're responding to certain situations the way that they do. And we all give each other tips. There's some things that I'm better in than somebody else, and, you know, vice versa. So we all help each other. We all want to get to the same place,” Justyn Martin said.

“I think that makes us kind of special, just because we just want to see the next person win,” QB Malik Washington added.

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