ACC Preview: Maryland Terrapins
July 21st, 2008 by Matthew Melton
Perhaps the worst draft pick of 2008 would be using it on a Terrapin quarterback. One of 3 men: Chris Turner, Jordan Steffy, or Josh Portis will win the starting job. Unless you are a card-carrying psychic, it would be wise to avoid the triumvirate of Maryland quarterbacks. Heck, even if you know who is going to win the job, there’s a good chance the numbers he posts will be less than stellar. In his 7 seasons in College Park, no quarterback under Friedgen has thrown more than 19 touchdowns in a season. That trend is very likely to continue this season.
With that in mind, one of the best sleepers in the ACC could be either Morgan Green or Da’Rel Scott. Both running backs played sparingly last season behind Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball. In fact, Green was injured and only played in the opener. Under Friedgen, the Terps have had a player rush for at least 800 yards in every season save 2004. Whoever wins the starting job will have 4 senior offensive linemen blocking for them and will be poised for a solid season. If one of them can become the feature back, and avoid the committee approach Lattimore and Ball played under, they could have a stellar season.
The only decent play at wide receiver figures to be Darrius Heyward-Bey. Heyward-Bey posted 694 yards receiving in 2006 and added 786 last season. Unfortunately, he also hauled in only 5 and 3 touchdowns in those seasons. He will not have a monster season, but should give you consistently mediocre production.
The Terps had no special teams or defensive touchdowns to speak of in 2007, so picking them up may be akin to buying a stock low. The defense shouldn’t be anything spectacular, but could find the endzone once or twice. The kicking game is solid with Obi Egekeze. He made 17 of 23 field goal attempts in 2007, with two of his misses coming from over 50 yards.
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