By Todd Carton –
After a rough start, Saturday became a very good day for Coach D. J. Durkin and the Maryland football program as the Terps picked up three new commits for the class of 2017.
The day started with some difficult news when Florida safety Tyrek Tisdale announced that he would not enroll at Maryland this fall due to “health issues in my family.” Tidale told Inside Maryland Sports that he hopes to enroll in January. Everyone associated with the Maryland program wishes him the best and hopes for his entry to College Park in the near future.
Shortly after Tisdale’s announcement, the day turned a bit brighter when Gonzaga High School center Johnny Jordan committed to Maryland. The 6 foot 2 inch 295 pound Jordan is considered the 14th best center nationally is the number eight player in DC. He becomes the first Terrapin recruit from Gonzaga since AJ Francis came to College Park in 2008. Jordan will fill a position of need for Maryland because the only true center currently on the roster is sophomore Brendan Moore. You can see highlights from Jordan’s junior year here. Jordan becomes the third top 10 player from Washington to commit to the Terps.
The next two players who committed will line up in the backfield. Local back Tayon Fleet-Davis announced his commitment in the middle of the afternoon. He joins cornerback Deon Jones as the second player in the 2017 class from Potomac High School in Oxon Hill. Fleet-Davis, whose junior season highlights are here, is listed at 6 feet one inch and 210 pounds. He’s ranked nationally as the 38th best running back and as the number 18 player in Maryland is the fifth player from the top 20 in the state to commit to Maryland’s 2017 class.
North Carolina running back Javon Leake capped the day as the highest ranked of the three star recruits who committed. According to 247 Sports, Leake is the sixth best all-purpose back in the country and the 17th best player in his home state. You can watch highlights from his junior season here. At six feet one inch and 195 pounds, the versatile back should be another important and durable cog in Offensive Coordinator Walt Bell’s system.
In his last year at Arkansas State, Bell saw two backs carry the ball at least 100 times while a third picked up 99 carries. The three backs combined for more than 2,300 yards rushing. With both Trey Edmunds and Wes Brown in their final year of eligibility, both freshmen could compete for early playing time in College Park.
The weekend actually started with Friday’s commitment of place kicker Jonathan Doerer. Doerer, who kicks for South Mecklenberg High in Charlotte, NC is currently unranked according to 247Sports.com. This is likely to change now that he has a scholarship from a Power 5 program. Still, with 15 commits, one of whom is unrated, Maryland’s class now ranks as the 16th best in the country and trails only Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten.
The Terps are among the top schools under consideration for a number of other high profile recruits. If Durkin and company can show some on field success and continue to work their magic on the recruiting trail, the future of Maryland football will be very bright indeed.
freddy from boca
thank you tc for that update.
at arkansas st bell ran around 60% of the time so like todd mentioned look for a lot of carries from the running backs. not a bad way to go considering the qb situation. neither rowe or hills have played under bell and his offense before and neither returning terp field general is considered a good passer. matter of fact they seem to turnover quite a bit.
would not surprise me to see freshman tyrrell pigrome see quite a bit of action this year. md will play a spread offense and this little piggy may be better equipped to run the show that rowe or hills. i would rather build around a freshman who is going to be with the team a while than 2 seniors who are gone after this season.
amazing how md recruiting is going considering how badly the football program has been the last few years. durkin has always recruited the better players at his stops at stanford, fl and michigan. go after 4 and 5 star players. there is real hope for a bright future for md football. i think dj can do what jerry clairborne and bobby ross did back in the 70’s and 80’s. make saturday afternoons at college park relevant again
· 11/12/2019
Todd
First, Freddy, this is funny “this little piggy may be better equipped to run the show”. Although you may be right, in the end, I’m not certain Pigrome will ultimately play QB at Maryland. Don’t forget, the Terps have the very highly touted Kasim Hill verbaled for 2017 and I expect he will compete for playing time from the outset.
I still think Durkin and Company have to produce on the field and the Terps need to reach a bowl game at a minimum to solidify some of the other remaining quality recruits. If they can accomplish that goal and bring in some additional quality, you’re right that we could see relevant Saturdays in CP again.
· 11/12/2019