The talent and depth that Maryland returns at wide receiver ahead of the fall season is a big reason why so many are optimistic for the potential of Maryland’s passing attack. Veteran wideout Dontay Demus returns alongside Jeshaun Jones, Darryl Jones, Brian Cobbs, and Rakim Jarrett while underclassmen DeaJaun McDougle, Nick DeGennaro, Dino Tomlin, and Tai Felton, all work themselves into the rotation. For first-year receivers coach Zohn Burden, it’s a good problem to have as he spends fall camp ironing out the various receiver sets in the Terps’ offense. For Cobbs, the elevated competition has meant the unit has to bring their ‘A’ game each day in practice.
“Nothing’s promised. I know the amount of guys and talent we have in the room, it’s pretty much a fluid depth chart in terms of who can go and play the next week so you’ve really got to be on your Ps and Qs coming in,” Cobbs told Inside the Black and Gold. What made this offseason more competitive was the mentality that Cobbs and his teammates shared during the offseason player-run practices and drills. “We had our 7-on-7s out here, coaches didn’t really have to do anything. We’re lining up, we’re going through the script, competing on both sides of the ball, treating it like a game setting. I haven’t had that since I’ve been here, so I was really happy to be a part of that.”
The improved culture inside the Jones-Hill House locker room has been a theme that has trickled out of College Park since last summer but taken an even bigger focus this offseason as head coach Mike Locksley’s culture starts to come to fruition. Cobbs and tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo pointed to the team’s improved mentality as one reason why Maryland is ready for this fall season, with Cobbs calling the transformation a ‘night and day’ switch compared to when Locksley first arrived as head coach.
“It was a lot of just fooling around, guys didn’t take stuff too seriously and now it’s a player-driven team which I feel like when adversity hits, no matter who is on the field we can look to our left and right and get fired up by our teammates, motivate each other whereas before we waited on coaches to get stuff started. You can’t be a successful team if you’re waiting to be motivated by the coaches so the fact that we are player-driven and motivated.”
Cobbs admitted he felt moments of personal complacency when he first arrived in College Park, navigating his way through his first seasons with the program to find his niche in the room. “Coach Locksley’s first spring coming in, I was complacent in some areas and that led me to not being as productive as I know I could’ve been. Kind of learning from that and going through that experience and now approaching each year, spring ball, fall camp, approaching everything the same way and keeping a professional mindset, I feel like that’s taken my game to the next level.”
Cobbs appeared in all 12 games as a true freshman, drawing a pair of starts, before starting the final three games as a sophomore and finishing second on the team with 243 receiving yards. Last fall, Cobbs started in all five games before registering his first career touchdown in the season finale against Rutgers. His 28 games worth of experience has prepared him heading into his senior year, a season that he feels he can now serve as a key leader for the unit.
“It’s a challenge every day coming in, you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game. I feel like I’ve evolved as a leader, and I’ve showed guys how to learn the offense better and I’ve even seen guys step up and take that role as well. The fact that we have 4-5 guys in the room who are now leaders and can teach the young guys and just teach the offense, I feel like that’s taken us light years ahead from where we were.” That type of mentality has left a positive impact on his teammates during practice. “I feel like it’s paid off, makes me happy to see how far I’ve come but the biggest thing that drives me is not being satisfied, not getting complacent because. I feel like other guys feed off that and just keeps the focus kind of engaged at practice.”
The improved mentality helped the receivers find time with the quarterbacks through the offseason as the player-led workouts became the norm inside the new indoor facility. With a deep receiver room returning alongside quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the return of tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo only adds to the optimism of what the Terps’ passing attack could achieve this fall season. Cobbs knows what the potential is for Maryland’s skill players, but just as Locksley is ready to put the term ‘potential’ aside, the senior receiver knows the “possibilities are unlimited with what we can achieve.”
“With this offseason, we all kind of had player improvement plans. What that was was basically groups of three or four receivers at a time, we’d all get together whether Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, maybe footwork and top of our routes or stuff like that. Tuesday, Thursday would be jugs, contested catches and maybe speed work. The fact that we had those groups of people working together rather than just being like one or two guys off by themselves trying to get better, it definitely built the chemistry and comradery better with the team and every day after outside, we’d get extra work with Lia. He feels better about us and how we’ll make plays, and we feel better about him and then the chemistry level, it’s through the roof. He’s throwing balls before we break because he knows and trusts the guys to be in their spots so when we come out, it’s like we hit layups out there on the field. There’s no better feeling knowing we have that chemistry.”
Media will be in attendance for a portion of Thursday’s practice, followed by a press conference with head coach Mike Locksley.
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