Maryland QB Malik Washington named Big Ten freshman to watch

Ahmed Ghafir
Aug 7, 2025
3 min read

While he may not be on the preseason award watch lists just yet, the preseason buzz around Maryland quarterback Malik Washington continued on Thursday after ESPN named him of three freshmen to watch in the Big Ten in 2025.

ESPN: Washington already arrived on campus facing immense expectations after the four-star Maryland native opted to stay home and attend the school he grew up idolizing. His spring game showing -- he went 12-of-18 for 170 yards and two touchdowns -- did little to dispel any optimism he could become the face of a program resurrection in College Park. At 6-foot-5, 231 pounds, Washington is a true dual-threat with arm talent and mobility. His accuracy and ability to change arm angles should mesh well in an RPO scheme. Carving out a path to contention in the Big Ten won't be easy, and he'll need to beat out UCLA transfer Justyn Martin for the starting gig, but Washington has game-changing tools.

Washington joined Oregon wide receiver Dakorien Moore and Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood on the shortlist with Underwood expected to lead Michigan into College Park on Nov. 22 for a potential matchup between two top-100 quarterbacks in the 2025 class. All eyes remain on who Maryland will trot out at quarterback with the first team for the first snaps when Maryland hosts Florida Atlantic on Aug. 30 with Washington limited in practice through the week as head coach Mike Locksley reviewed the unit with BTN earlier this week.

“Everybody leaves off Khristian Martin and he’s kind of the unknown, but very talented like the rest of those guys. Obviously not having Malik out there for extended periods – he actualy took a couple periods and some of the ball handling stuff, dealing with some lower body injuries but he’ll be fine. The competition is still on pace. Both he and Justyn [Martin] coming out of spring were both one and two but Khristian made a nice run at the end of spring ball and left out of the spring game as MVP. We feel like with all three of these guys, they’re very capable. Obviously Malik comes in much heralded and as advertised. The times we’ve had opportunities to watch him and see him, he’s as advertised. What we’ve got to do is get him health, get back on the field here hopefully in the next couple of days, hopefully within the next week, hopefully, and get him back into the mix. But we feel very comfortable that all three of those guys are capable and we’ve just got to get into some of the scrimmage situations.”

ESPN also picked Maryland at second-to-last in their preseason power rankings, ahead of only Purdue which has remained largely consistent through the offseason. “Coach Mike Locksley recently admitted he lost the locker room in 2024 over which players to pay, as the Terrapins stumbled to a 1-8 Big Ten record,” ESPN wrote. “Maryland doesn't have much coming back offensively, either, though keeping four-star QB Malik Washington in state has given the Terrapins an intriguing player to rebuild around. The true freshman is battling UCLA transfer Justyn Martin and redshirt freshman Khristian Martin for the starting QB job.”

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