Three storylines to track as Maryland football kicks off 2025 fall camp

Ahmed Ghafir
Jul 30
4 min read

Maryland football is 31 days away from kicking off the 2025 season, but today marks the turning point in the offseason after players moved into The Hotel on Tuesday ahead of the first practice of fall camp this afternoon. After a disappointing 2024 season that ended on a five game losing streak and featured just one conference win, Maryland football will look to turn the page onto year seven of the Mike Locksley era in hopes of reaching a bowl game for the fourth time in five seasons.

The sportsbooks odds are bearish on Maryland’s chances of doing so with five or more wins now +105 (FanDuel) as the preseason over/under win total has remained consistent at 4.5. Consistently picked among the worst Big Ten teams in 2025 and picked to finish 16^th in the unofficial preseason media standings, Maryland will now look to put the pieces together to outperform expectations and silence the critics. What are the three biggest storylines to watch in order to get there? We take a look heading into on-campus media day and the start of fall camp.

QB battle developments

For the second consecutive year, Maryland football enters the fall without a starting quarterback publicly declared. But the vibe in 2025 is much different than 2024 with a pair of underclassmen joining an incoming Big Ten transfer to lead a room now coached by new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. The arrival of Pep has instilled confidence in the offense’s scheme with multiple sources pointing to the former Texans OC as a ‘wizard’ as he works to solidify the room with Ted White and Eric Najarian working under him. Justyn Martin enters the fall as the ‘vet’ in the room despite entering his first year in the system, but his game reps and Big Ten experience sit in his favor while the 6-foot-5 quarterback showed traits through the spring of becoming a capable starter. Khristian Martin, the MVP of the spring game, solidifies a room with the Virginia native drawing consistent praise since arriving on campus 13 months ago. Of course, there’s true freshman Malik Washington who has shown every bit of living up to his billing as the future at the position. While he’s been an asset on the recruiting trail, Washington showed signs of a poised quarterback who did well taking in the playbook and system through the spring as the former blue-chip signee has a chance to match the buzz starting on Tuesday through August. How the quarterback battle shakes out will be one to watch with the non-conference schedule giving Washington a chance to get comfortable with all signs pointing to him becoming the eventual full-time starting quarterback, but the next 25 practices will give the Archbishop Spalding product a chance to prove himself as the week one starter.

How does the OL mesh?

Maryland signed a pair of experienced portal additions to the offensive line this offseason in LT Rahtrel Perry and RG/RT Carlos Moore, while former Buffalo transfer Isaiah Wright is in line to make his debut this fall after missing the 2024 season due to injury. Perry and Wright will serve as two key pieces in 2025 while Alan Herron, the D2 transfer ahead of the 2024 season, serves as a versatile piece in the top group of the offensive line. Whether Herron cements himself at right guard or right tackle – where he started all 12 games in 2024 – will be worth watching through fall camp. Aliou Bah, the former four-star from Georgia, returns as Michael Hershey is in line for a full-time role after a rotational role at center in 2024. Individually, there’s a lot to like with Maryland’s offensive line as Damian Wroblewski, working with the guards and centers, and Hal Hunter, working with the tight ends and tackles, look to cement the unit. With inexperience at quarterback and a need for Maryland to improve its rushing attack behind a young core, all eyes will be on how the offensive line meshes together through camp and hope to build momentum through fall camp.

How will the youth movement fare?

Between the high school and transfer portal additions, Maryland will welcome 38 new players into the 2025 season. Many of those players, like WR Jalil Farooq, TE Dorian Fleming and cornerbacks Dontay Joyner and Jamare Glasker, will be depended upon this fall for key roles on both sides of the ball. 17 of the 38 additions were welcomed as early enrollees and were able to go through spring ball as head coach Mike Locksley stressed late March into April gave the revamped, young roster a chance to pick up the terminology and playbook.

“All I wanted to do is get through the spring with the installations of our systems. There's a lot of moving parts. We're a really young team going into June 1,” he added.

With all of those moving pieces now officially in the program, Maryland will get a chance to identify its playmakers and get comfortable with the full roster while several freshmen, including QB Malik Washington, DL Bryce Jenkins, RB Iverson Howard, SAF Messiah Delhomme and DL Sidney Stewart among others, look to entrench themselves in impact or rotational roles heading into the fall.

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