With Maryland in town for one more day before departing for Nashville, we dive into the latest notes surrounding bowl prep and what to look for in 2024 in the trenches. One day after Jordan Seaton opted to stick with his pledge, the Reese’s Senior Bowl announced that veteran lineman DJ Glaze had officially accepted his invitation, making next weekend’s bowl game vs. Auburn his final game as a Terp. But he is still expected to suit up in the bowl game with the offensive line still largely looking the same as it did through the regular season. Mike Purcell anchored the first-team unit during the open portion of practice earlier this week, while Kyle Long replaced Amelio Moran at LG. The second team OL (L-R) was: Conor Fagan, Amelio Moran, Aric Harris, Marcus Dumervil, Andre Roye. One notable absence from practice is one fans have had hopes for all season long: LB Neeo Avery, who continues to get treatment as he works his way back onto the field after being sidelined through October. Whether he ultimately makes the trip to Nashville is up in the air, but the team is set to depart from College Park at 1:30 PM on Tuesday with practices set for both Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. IBG will be on hand for both practices and will provide coverage as always. Going back to the offensive line, I mentioned on the latest episode of Young Terps that Maryland will likely turn back to the portal and scour the next wave of talent that enters following the bowl games where finding a tackle to replace Glaze, but Kyle Long will get a chance to showcase himself once again as a starter as Maryland looks to fill one guard spot. Former Georgia OL Aliou Bah is another candidate to do so, while Josh Kaltenberger, who is already on campus, will have the chance to take over at center and take freshman Tamarus Walker under his wing. For anyone concerned, Kaltenberger joined the rest of the transfers last week by signing his Big Ten tender and the former Purdue OL is still expected to be announced following the admission process. With official news that Taulia Tagovailoa has opted out of the bowl game, Maryland will likely turn to Billy Edwards Jr. and Cam Edge as the two main quarterbacks as they get a chance to showcase themselves in larger sample sizes. While Edge will look to turn his flashes from the offseason into fall practices into production against Auburn, Edwards Jr. still has the confidence from his teammates through bowl prep ahead of the eventual quarterback battle against MJ Morris, who is also already on campus as is CB Jalen Huskey. Head coach Mike Locksley has pointed to a number of players in the secondary who could emerge against Auburn, like Jonathan Akins, Mykel Morman, Kevis Thomas, while Shaleak Knotts remains a prime offensive breakout candidate against Auburn after seeing increased playing time toward the end of the regular season. Meanwhile, tight end Dylan Wade came down with an impressive one-handed catch in practice this past week. https://twitter.com/TerpsFootball/status/1738937585454698939 Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and look forward to seeing everyone in Nashville. We’ll have our bowl episode out on Wednesday. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Dq3JZnhHg4djlEoSF19yl?si=8f87f5a625cb4e1d Related Links
Young Terps: fallout from early signing period | OL development | basketball’s first road winBilly Edwards Jr. ready to lead Maryland’s QBs vs. AuburnDJ Glaze becomes second Terp to accept Reese’s Senior Bowl invitationJosh Kaltenberger ready to begin journey as Maryland’s next centerMaryland football’s 2024 recruiting class superlatives
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