Maryland Football Transfer Portal Breakdown: WR Na'eem Gladding and Chris Durr Jr.
- rwelchie3
- 8 hours ago
- 7 min read
In a lackluster offense for Maryland in 2025, a lot of the problems stemmed from the lack of playmaking ability at the wide receiver position. There were question marks entering the season on who Malik Washington could find a connection with. Veterans Octavian Smith and Shaleak Knotts were mostly unproven at the collegiate level and a portal addition of former Oklahoma receiver Jalil Farooq raised durability questions coming off of a season ending injury the year prior. The results were lackluster as the trio flashed early, but never truly broke out as conference play rolled on. A major problem with last year’s core was efficiency as countless drops halted Maryland’s drives and ability to score. Entering the offseason it was apparent that that wide receiver was the number one need for the roster in terms of areas to improve. A revamped receiver core would go a long way in helping the development of Malik Washington and flipping some close losses into wins.
With only Kaleb Webb being the only returnee with significant experience, Maryland entered the portal to grab aid. The additions included former Wyoming Cowboy Chris Durr Jr. and former Old Dominion wideout Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding. The names or statistics do not jump off the page as there were plenty of big fish available in the portal market. However, Maryland adopted the “Moneyball” approach and looked for options in their budget with underlying characteristics to help their results on the field. As has been mentioned, the two receivers are efficient with both combining for more touchdowns than they had drops in 2025; a far cry from last year’s receiver room.
Gladding is a 6-foot, 190 pound receiver hailing from Brooklyn, NY. Gladding was a part of a stacked ODU receiver trio where he accounted for 51 receptions, 667 yards, and 6 touchdowns. It should be noted that his two starting receiver teammates also landed at power 4 schools in this portal cycle. The incoming junior still led the team in receptions and scores while being an All-Sun Belt honorable mention. Durr Jr. is a 5-foot-11, 173 pound receiver originally from Illinois. Durr led the Cowboys in receptions (45), yards (469), and also caught 4 touchdowns. Durr also led the team in 2024 as a true freshman where he appeared in all 12 games. We will take a look at what both players will bring to a revamped receiver room.
Gladding was a part of an explosive offense at Old Dominion that included a trio of power 4 portal transfers, one-time Maryland pledge RB Trequan Jones, and dual-threat quarterback Colten Joseph (who has signed with Wisconsin and will visit College Park in 2026). Gladding primarily lined up in the slot for the Monarchs and was a sure-handed, aware, and strong slot option.
Gladding has really strong hands and was able to make catches in traffic and fight through defenders. He is always catch first in the face of a defender before making a move to turn up field, a problem Maryland had last season. The following clips showcase his focus on making the catch first and to fight through a hit.
On this third down, Gladding makes an impressive catch with some solid defense from the defensive back late in the 4th quarter. Sure-handed plays like this are plays the Terrapins are looking for.
Gladding is also a strong route runner and has great awareness of the open areas of the field. Many times Gladding throttled down in the open pockets of the field to make it easier for his quarterback. This play shows both his great hands and awareness as the quarterback is out of the pocket towards the sidelines and Gladding cuts beneath the DB and shortens the path to his spot to create a separation before making a beautiful toe tap catch.
Gladding makes simple cuts and has great timing on these route moves to create separation and inside leverage on defenders. Old Dominion was very successful running deep slants for Gladding in the redzone area where he constantly was able to get inside leverage on the defender and box them out; followed by catches.
More examples of Gladding’s polished route running is this play where he torches the defender with a combination of speed and agility. The ball is a bit underthrown but Gladding almost makes an incredible catch with an impressive high point and battles with the defender. Much like his slant routes, Gladding has impressive post routes as well with simple cuts to open up defenders.
Gladding, while not the most elusive in the open field, fights for extra yards with downhill running. He takes YAC when he can and does not get too fancy with it. Gladding is more of a possession receiver that can move the chains on short to intermediate routes. His third touchdown versus Coastal last year was a great effort.
Overall, Gladding impressed on tape as a simple slot possession receiver that will immediately help the Terps with efficiency. His limited drops were contested balls and was sure-handed throughout last season. Gladding is a certified chain mover with elite awareness and a polished route tree.
Chris Durr Jr. also enters College Park this offseason and is a little different from his portal counterpart. Like Gladding, Durr also lines up in the slot a majority of the time; however, he has a much different makeup. Durr is a speed demon who is shifty in open space and has potential for an explosive play every time he touches the ball. His smaller frame leads to lower strength on contested balls but the speed and elusiveness is apparent off the jump.
Durr started out his 2025 campaign on a tear with a 146 yard day against Akron in the opener last year. This play showcases the gambreaking ability of Durr. He takes a quick curl route into beating his defender with elite acceleration to blow by him and uses his agility to juke a defender into an open lane along the sideline. The pure speed is on display along the speed.
Similarly earlier in the game Durr also uses his speed to beat his defender on a simple curl route. Durr is a YAC machine.
Wyoming also utilized Durr a lot in the screen game as his elusiveness is a weapon in open space. Durr offers a great burst with an open lane and utilizes it for his first touchdown of the season untouched on a screen play.
On offense it will be interesting to see if Maryland follows Wyoming’s plan of sending Durr in motion on screen passes and swing plays. As has been apparent in the past with Locksley run offenses, the bubble screen to receivers is a key play. This has been especially the case when the run game has faltered. Maryland has had quick receivers in the past, but Durr seems to fit their mold to a tee for this player archetype as seen with some misdirection and screen plays below.
Durr can also use his speed and agility combined to put together some strong route running ability. Durr’s foot speed and misdirection in tight spaces fools defenders. As first seen below, Durr breaks down on a fantastic in-route and uses his speed and field awareness to pick up solid yards after the catch with some solid juke moves. In the second clip Durr uses his speed perfectly up the seam to stack his defender, beating him to the outside and then moving back in his lane to block any chance he has at defending the pass. In the third clip, Durr runs an out route against man-coverage as he is first utilized in some designed motion to identify the defense. Immediately Durr flies off the ball on the snap and quickly runs into his out route upon contact with the defender. Based on Durr’s speed, the defender has no choice but to hold Durr as he is going to beat his defender to the spot.
Now how does Durr handle tight areas, particularly the redzone? Compared to Gladding, Durr’s overall snap count was lower but still received chances in the red zone. Like plays in the open field, Durr uses his agility to get open in the red zone. The first clip is a beautifully ran corner route by Durr to get the defender to bite on the inside move and then use his speed to get to the back of the endzone for the score. In the second clip Durr beats his man on a quick slant but the ball is underthrown (happened a few times throughout the film study). With his quickness, Durr on quick slant routes like this inside the 10-yard line could be a weapon for the offense to score in the area they struggled heavily with last year.
As has been advertised, Durr is very efficient with his drops much like Gladding. It is a little different as Durr often had many screen passes and quick plays thrown his way that have high catch probability. There were times where he would get outmuscled and ‘drop’ a ball (does not go under a drop) or the quarterback would throw a poor pass, but for the most part Durr has strong hands. This last clip was perhaps his most impressive play I saw as it was a little out of his element. In the redzone Durr fought through two defenders in a tight window and came down with the touchdown grab.
The weaknesses of Durr’s game come with the territory of a player like this such as doing too much juking and not getting the easy yards, not being the strongest at the catch point against a defender, and going down easily when being tackled. Durr is an explosive player that can be a real asset to Maryland and is a little different than what has been seen at the position for the Terps in a while.
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