Football

VIP: Maryland football portal rumblings in the trenches

Maryland already added three transfers along the offensive line ball as Aliou Bah (Georgia), Alan Herron (Shorter) and Josh Kaltenberger (Purdue) settled into their new likely starting roles at guard, tackle and center through the spring. Maryland still isn’t done in the trenches though with the offensive line still the top priority this offseason and two targets are in the mix.

The first is former Liberty OT Chase Mitchell, who entered the portal last week with a ‘Do Not Contact’ tag. Vanderbilt was the first school to host him with buzz still around the Commadores’ chances while Mitchell and his camp made the trip out west to check out USC on Saturday. Maryland jumped into the mix because the Terps were among the suitors that Mitchell’s camp expressed interest in, feedback that has routinely come up for the Terps during the latest portal window. While the two sides worked out visit plans, it was Maryland who replaced Alabama on the coveted portal target’s visit schedule with confidence around the Terps’ chances to reel Mitchell in heading into the visit.

Mitchell arrived in the area late Sunday afternoon before heading to campus on Monday, while the former Liberty starter will head to dinner with the staff before departing on Monday night. For Mitchell, it’s a projected seamless fit in College Park after starting in every game as the Flames’ left tackle in 2023 — the position of need for Maryland — as the staff works the close and sells the need for its final starting tackle.

Mitchell isn’t the only portal lineman that Maryland is in pursuit of after former Buffalo lineman Isaiah Wright entered the portal back on April 30. After Maryland got their crack at Mitchell on Monday, the expectation heading into the week is that Wright will make his way to campus for a visit this upcoming weekend as Maryland looks to close on the versatile lineman.

After spending two seasons at Rutgers, Wright transferred to Buffalo where he blossomed into a dependable lineman after starting in 18 consecutive games at left tackle before filling in at center for the final six games of the 2023 season. Just like Mitchell, the fit at left tackle makes it a perfect fit for Wright. Hat tip to coordinator of player personnel Marcus Thomas who’s routinely drawn praise and drew credit here for ID’ing the potential Big Ten bounceback.

Could Maryland land both portal targets? It’s possible despite it being a tall task, but the staff has worked their tails off with both Mitchell and Wright heading into their visits. Maryland was still scheduled to host former Arkansas OT Andrew Chamblee for a visit this upcoming weekend, but intel pointed to both Wright and Mitchell as higher priorities once they became available. If Maryland is able to pull off the portal dream and land both Mitchell and Wright, both could still step into potential starting roles as position coaches Brian Braswell and Damian Wroblewski would then turn to fall camp to iron out its starting five. If both were to land in College Park, Wright’s versatility along the line looms large because he’s viewed as someone that can play along the line. Still, the ability to land at least one of its portal targets would address the Terps’ biggest weakness on offense.

The next step is getting their portal targets locked in, and heading into the final hours of Mitchell’s visit and days before Wright arrives, both are entrenched at ‘warm’ on the portal big board with steady confidence that Maryland will be able to get at least one in the fold.