Report card: Maryland football's 2025 offense

rwelchie3
5 hours ago
7 min read

Another Maryland football season has ended with Mike Locksley’s eight campaign finishing with another disappointment. Minimal preseason expectations with a young roster with heavy roster turnover quickly changed after the first 4 games of the season. A 3-0 start against lower level teams is normal around College Park; however, a road win at Camp Randall Stadium altered fans' opinions going forward for what was thought to be a rebuilding year. Combine this with a 20-0 lead against a strong Washington program and it seemed as if an unexpected breakout was occurring. A meltdown commenced at The Shell as the Terps blew a 20-point 3rd quarter lead and never won a game for the rest of the year.

A new kind of season-ending spiral for the Locksley era Terrapins, but at the same time, similar themes lurked. The roster was chalk full of new talent coming from the portal and high school classes. Younger players on rosters in the past stepped up into larger roles as well. A theme for most of the position groups was a strong start followed by diminishing returns as conference play rolled on. We will take a look at each offensive position group and assign report grades.

Quarterbacks

All eyes were on the quarterback position battle in fall camp as UCLA transfer Justyn Martin, sophomore Kristian Martin, and prized freshman Malik Washington battled for the position. The starting role was given to Malik Washington and he was the primary signal caller with minimal action from both Martins. A lot was asked of the freshman phenom with multiple games of over 30 passing attempts and even 62 attempts in the final game against Michigan State. Speaking of that final performance, it was Washington’s best with 459 yards on 38 completions with 3 touchdowns and an interception. Washington finished with 2,963 yards, 17 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, and a 57.7% completion percentage.

It was mostly an up and down year for Washington as he was put in a tough spot for a freshman in the Big Ten. Like most of his teammates, Washington looked the part early with strong decision making, accuracy, and clutchness in the non-conference. This continued into the Wisconsin matchup in September. Deficiencies around Washington did not help his cause as the run game was non-existent throughout most of conference play and the offensive weapons struggled with drops and separation. On the flip side, Washington received above average pass blocking to help the freshman avoid taking many hits. With the lack of a strong run game a lot was asked of Washington and he struggled at times delivering accurate deep balls and had a lot of balls batted down at the line of scrimmage. Offensive play-calling also did not help Washington’s case. Washington flashed the ability to use his legs as well throughout the year. Overall, Washington had a lot on his plate for a freshman and was not put in the best position to succeed. A lot to work on for the youngster and it will be key for him to develop more and to get him some help on the outside going forward. Washington didn’t put the college football world on notice consistently; however, all things considered, Washington had a decent first year.

Grade: B-

Running Backs

Entering the year the running back room was set to be a strong point for the offense with a returning Nolan Ray and former 4-star Dejuan Williams set to receive carries as well. Maryland was seemingly set as no backs were added in the portal prior to the season. The duo was a disappointment throughout the entirety of the season. The run game was a non-factor in seemingly every conference game and really put more pressure on the freshman quarterback. The run blocking from the offensive line was an issue but the explosiveness from the running back duo was non-existent. Nolan Ray finished the season with only 289 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 4.3 yards per carry. Ray was seemingly passed by Williams as the lead back early on. Williams showed more pop and running ability throughout the season but the results were lackluster as well. Williams led the team with 128 carries and 501 yards for 3.9 yards per carry. Williams only added 3 touchdowns on the ground. The touchdown numbers are alarming as many of the Terps red zone struggles stemmed from the inability to get tough groundyards near the goal line. The run game also got Maryland behind the sticks on many drives and led Washington to have to throw over 40 passes on numerous occasions. Freshman Iverson Howard also got 39 carries on the year and did not provide much of a change of pace with only 125 yards. Williams provided value in the passing game with 45 receptions for 426 yards. On the run game front, it was the Achilles heel for the Terrapins down the stretch.

Grade: D

Wide Receivers

The receiver room on the other hand was more of a question mark. Alpha receivers in Tai Felton and Kaden Prather departed for the NFL and there were a lot of unproven players needing to step up. Octavian Smith was the lone returner with a proven track record and Shaleak Knotts was seemingly a second-team player entering his final year. Former Oklahoma receiver was pegged as the number one option after taking a year off from injury and Kaleb Webb entered from Tennessee, where he was mostly unproven as well.

As the season began, the emergence of Shaleak Knotts began with five touchdowns in the first 4 games of the year. Knotts would end up as the leading receiver with 717 yards and 6 touchdowns, with only 1 score in the final 8 games. Jalil Farooq struggled for a majority of the season with a surprising lack of usage early on with only a few receptions per game. Farooq finally reached the endzone against UCLA and finished the season strong with a 110-yard and two-touchdown performance in the finale. For most of the year, Farooq failed to reach his deep threat potential and the chemistry with Washington never really clicked. A problem with Farooq and the rest of the room was drops. Many drops stalled drives and was a real problem for the Terps offense to reach their full potential. Across the rest of the room, separation was an issue in conference play with a lack of playmakers evident. Washington often had limited targets open and explosive plays were minimal due to the aforementioned drops and lack of separation. Senior Octavian Smith did not have a productive season as well with no touchdowns to show for in his final campaign. Many of the young receivers did not get many opportunities and there was a lack of depth in the room. Overall, one of the weaker receiver rooms in a while for Maryland.

Grade: D+

Tight Ends

One of the prized possessions of the offseason transfer portal haul was Georgia State tight end Dorian Fleming. The redshirt sophomore dominated the Sun Belt conference a year prior with a strong ability to make plays and rack up yards after the catch. Entering Maryland, Fleming was tagged as a big piece of the passing offense.

Fleming started to show his ability against Northern Illinois with 70 yards and a score, including an impressive 48-yard catch-and-run. Throughout the rest of the year however, Fleming failed to make the game-breaking plays he was known for at Georgia State. Large chunk plays were made every once in a while and some of his possession catches in the endzone were impressive. Overall, Fleming was seemingly not producing at the level that was expected. Fleming struggled with drops like his wideout counterparts and struggled mightily in the blocking game. As for Leon Haughton and AJ Syzmanski, both were not a threat in the pass game and struggled in run blocking as well. The tight end room is missing a primary blocker that could elevate the room. Fleming has two years of eligibility remaining and it is clear that a primarily passing game role would suit him well to develop his production level. Fleming’s development will be one to watch.

Offensive Line

The offensive line has been a weakness for Maryland for much of this era of football. Last year was perhaps the worst group that Maryland has had in recent memory with years prior including NFL talent sprinkled in. A storyline entering the year was most of the line was returning with Michael Hershey, Aliou Bah, and Alan Herron amongst the returning starters. Central Connecticut transfer Rahtrell Perry filled in at left tackle and a returning Isiah Wright filled in at left guard.

An obvious flaw for the group was the run blocking. The run game was the weakness all year and the lack of pop from the front lines was one of the main culprits of the struggles. Across the group PFF run blocking grades were between the high 40’s to high 50’s. This is described as poor to below average. Wright and Perry particularly struggled in the run game with defenders blowing up the left side consistently.

On the other hand, the pass blocking game was surprisingly a strong suit for the group. Passing blocking was a major issue last season with Billy Edwards often running for his life early on in passing downs. Amongst the struggling players last year, Alan Herron developed into the best pass blocker on the team and overall the best offensive lineman. It was a strong year for Herron in pass pro as the senior had an 83.8 PFF passing grade and locked down the right side. Herron was arguably the most improved player from last year’s roster. On the other side, Rahtrell Perry was also a strong pass protection player to make up for his poor season in the run game. Hershey led the team in PFF pass grade with an 87.1 and locked up interior pressure all season. Aliou Bah and Isiah Wright were also above average in pass protection with a team pass blocking grade of 78.42 (above average). The team only allowed 9 sacks all season as the pass rush was never really an issue for the overall struggling offense. A strong revelation for a Maryland offensive line group that has struggled with this in the past. As much as the pass blocking was solid, the run blocking was worse in the wrong direction. A few new pieces will be needed for a departing Herron and Isiah Wright with Hershey, Perry, and Bah with eligibility remaining. Potential portal grabs are possible with younger players such as Jaylen Gilchrist, Amory Hills, and Ryan Howerton possible suitors for guard spots.

Grade: C+

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