Maryland receiver Tai Felton has put up prodigious numbers in his first three games of the season. His statistics are sending his stock up draft boards across the country, but it shouldn’t be surprising to those that have followed the Ashburn native during his college career.
‘I’ve always said Tai Felton was a talented player. He got over looked, recruiting wise, because of the injury his senior year [of high school],” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “Prior to that, he was a guy that was a national recruit, and we got lucky to get him because of the injury and because of our loyalty to him.
Now in his fourth season in College Park, the Stone Bridge grad’s numbers through three weeks are off the charts. Felton opened against Connecticut with 178 yards receiving and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder on a screen pass. He followed that up with 152 and 117 against Michigan State and Virginia, respectively, with a TD in each game.
“He’s always knew he could do it,” said fellow wideout Kaden Prather. “He just had to see himself do it.”
After only eclipsing the century mark twice in his previous three seasons, Felton’s three 100-plus yard receiving efforts are a Maryland record to start a season, a streak he’ll try to extend Saturday versus Villanova. Only Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Mississippi’s Tre Harris have matched the feat this year.
“I’ve seen him get the extra work in all offseason. His mind is just at a way higher level than it was his first three years,” Prather said. “The fact that he’s actually doing what he thought he could do, it’s going very well for him.”
His yards (447), receptions (27), and touchdown (4) marks also all lead the Big Ten. Success didn’t come overnight, Lockley pointed out, as Felton’s bided his time working on his craft behind Rakim Jarrett, Dontay Demus, Jacob Copeland and other receivers who were often the top targets of former quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa.
“You know, he’s a guy that was catching off the Lobster — the tennis ball machine — from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. And he’s in there in the summer, and he’s in there in the off season, and he’s doing them when nobody’s watching, when nobody’s writing articles, nobody’s talking about how bad we are, he’s working,” Locksley said. “And all that is being seen now because of the stuff he did and the pride he took in doing the work in the dark.”
Locksley also noted that Felton was a popular target for other schools looking to convince the receiver to enter the transfer portal in the last two seasons. Felton, though, stayed true, and an offseason experience training in Pensacola, Florida, this summer also helped his transformation.
“He came back a different guy,” Locksley said. “Taking care of his body. His confidence is through the roof. He’s playing and practicing at a high level. Can’t say enough good things about Ty, and the season he’s having thus far is a byproduct of the work he put in.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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