Maryland football signs 23 players, adding five-star receiver, depth in the trenches

COLLEGE PARK — Five-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett headlined a list of 23 players who signed letters of intent to play for Maryland Wednesday on college football’s National Signing Day.

Jarrett, from St. John’s College High School in the District, was verbally committed to LSU for months, but he was still interested in the Terrapins. The flip came as a surprise not only to football fans, but to coach Mike Locksley and his staff.

“His process was all over the place from our standpoint, because you didn’t have information. Even the way he signed and committed today,” Locksley said. “We had no idea he was signing today. We had no idea that he was even coming to us, and all of a sudden he puts out a tweet that says, ’Committed.’ And we’re like, ’What is this?’”

Jarrett was the No. 20-ranked player in the country according to 247 Sports and No. 21 in ESPN’s rankings. He was the second-best wide receiver in the class and won 2019 D.C. Gatorade Player of the Year after hauling in 60 receptions for 950 yards and seven touchdowns this fall.

Locksley said he’s known Jarrett since he was in eighth grade and called him “really consistent with who he is as a person.” The coach recounted how Jarrett chose to attend St. John’s, before it became a football powerhouse, over other private schools recruiting him.

“He’s not a follower by any means. You win with guys like him,” Locksley said.

Jarrett is the first five-star recruit the Terrapins have landed since offensive tackle Damian Prince in the Class of 2014, something that could help some dominoes to fall and benefit Maryland in future recruiting.

“The stars for us don’t matter, but I think it goes along the lines that peer pressure still runs recruiting,” Locksley said. “When players that respect Rakim Jarrett as a football player see him sign and come to a place like Maryland, I think it opens up eyes and doors that Maryland could possibly be the type of program that has the ability to develop you.”

Adding Jarrett elevated Maryland to the 27th-ranked class in the country, according to Rivals, but he was just one of four players in the class hailing from the District, Maryland or Virginia — the “DMV” area the program prides itself in recruiting.

Locksley was glad to fulfill his goal of replenishing the Terrapins’ depth in the trenches, signing five offensive linemen and four defensive linemen. Several of them — offensive lineman Johari Branch and defensive linemen Viliami Finau and Mosiah Nasili-Kite — come from Kansas’ Independence Community College, where two seasons of the Netflix docuseries “Last Chance U” was filmed.

Locksley felt linemen that come straight from high school need more time to develop, so he wanted some junior college recruits to come in and compete for starting roles right away.

Right as the Terrapins are losing running backs Anthony McFarland and Javon Leake to the NFL draft, they signed two running backs to the Class of 2020. Detroit prospect Peny Boone, who first committed back in June, is rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals, and Isaiah Jacobs is the sixth-ranked recruit from Oklahoma and the younger brother of Oakland Raiders first-round pick Josh Jacobs.

One notable absence from the class, for now, is a quarterback. Locksley said they’re continuing to recruit some high-school signal-callers, and the Terrapins may consider a graduate transfer again.

This is the foundation of Locksley’s second recruiting class at Maryland, or as he described it on Wednesday, number “one and a half.” He was hired in December 2018 following a season where Matt Canada took over for the suspended — and eventually fired — DJ Durkin, so Locksley didn’t have much time to put a recruiting class together.

From both this year’s class and last year’s players now jostling for playing time in 2020, Locksley is looking for three key characteristics: being smart, tough and reliable.

“Those are paramount to play and be a contributor for us,” he said. “Smart players do things the right way on the field. Tough players, mentally and physically, you’re always gonna win with them, and then reliable. When you look at the way we played this year, I would dare to say we weren’t a team that consistently played smart, tough and reliable.

“But to me, when we go out and recruit, we put a premium on checking those three boxes with the guys we bring in.”