Okay so I’m going to do my best to break down the Maryland defense. I grew up playing WR so I know offense much better but I’ll do my best.
Scheme: Maryland will generally operate of of the 3-4 but can easily shift to a 4-3 based on the versatility of our OLBs. Due to injury and the skill of our DBs, you won’t see too much nickel and dime packages except on obvious passing downs. Maryland likes to play aggressive press man to man coverage. We like to blitz situationally and a lot of times will bring a DB off the edge.
DL: Our DE is 6th year senior Sam O #97 (trust me, O is easier). He’s a beast and a playmaker on the field. He has 4 sacks and numerous hurries. Our beef inside is two second year JUCO transfers from Independence CC. DT Mosiah Nasili-Kite is 6’2” 310 lbs. was hurt earlier this year but has returned and looks on form. He had 4 sacks last year in 5 games. Finally the other half of our JUCO guys is NT Ami Finau. 6’2” 320 lbs. He mostly provides size and strength. Overall it will be hard to push our Dline around but they can be susceptible to combo blocking and pulling schemes. Maryland likes to sub a lot on the line to keep guys fresh so expect also to see Greg Rose, Tyler Baylor, and Anthony “Tank” Booker.
LB: The leader of the of lb core is MIKE Ruben Hyppolite #11. He needs to put on some weight but he’s one of those guys who flies around the field and always seems to be in on the tackle. He’s a thumper and on the best tacklers on the team. The WILL was Fanajae Gotay who got hurt game 1. The he was replaced by super talented freshman Brandon Jennings, who also got hurt last week. He hasn’t been officially ruled out but I’ll be surprised if he played. So next man up is Gereme Spraggins. Spraggins has been great against the run but seems to struggle in coverage. SAM is Holt is pretty decent pass rusher. Behind him is “Chop” Robinson who is a borderline 5* true freshman. Chop is a beast in pass rush. Lastly is the JACK with Durrell Nchami. Nchami is coming on a knee injury which ended his season last year. He seems to be starting to get back up to speed. This LB is immensely talented but will sometimes struggle with gap assignments. They also have a tendency to lose contain so a good running QB could take advantage of that.
DB: This is the pride of the Maryland defense. Maryland had 3 legit corners with leader Deonte Banks, ultra talented COVID FR Tarheeb Still #12, and Jakorian Bennett. Unfortunately our best CB Banks went down in game 2 and seems like he’s possibly done for the year. Still and Jakorian Bennett are still a top tier CB duo though. On obvious passing downs Kenny Bennett or Isaiah Hazel will come in. At safety we have Nick Cross #3 and Jordan Mosely. Cross is a superstar and likely Maryland’s best pro prospect. Supposedly the fastest player on Maryland and has 2 ints this year. He’s not you’re typical centerfield type safety though. You’ll see him guarding in the flats, aggressively pursuing the run and they’ll bring him on blitzes. He’s the do it all type player. Mosely is kind of a jack of all trades type. He doesn’t excel at anything but isn’t particularly bad at anything either. Maryland will mostly play “Cat Coverage” as Locksley calls it. Meaning you guard this cat, you guard this cat. So look for mostly man coverage with tight aggressive, physical play. A QB with very good downfield accuracy can take advantage of mostly 1-1 coverage that Maryland plays, but it will take some great throws as our DBs are pretty good at blanketing. A more strict officiating crew could hurt MD as they’ll most likely get more DPI calls with how aggressive they are.
Scheme: Maryland will generally operate of of the 3-4 but can easily shift to a 4-3 based on the versatility of our OLBs. Due to injury and the skill of our DBs, you won’t see too much nickel and dime packages except on obvious passing downs. Maryland likes to play aggressive press man to man coverage. We like to blitz situationally and a lot of times will bring a DB off the edge.
DL: Our DE is 6th year senior Sam O #97 (trust me, O is easier). He’s a beast and a playmaker on the field. He has 4 sacks and numerous hurries. Our beef inside is two second year JUCO transfers from Independence CC. DT Mosiah Nasili-Kite is 6’2” 310 lbs. was hurt earlier this year but has returned and looks on form. He had 4 sacks last year in 5 games. Finally the other half of our JUCO guys is NT Ami Finau. 6’2” 320 lbs. He mostly provides size and strength. Overall it will be hard to push our Dline around but they can be susceptible to combo blocking and pulling schemes. Maryland likes to sub a lot on the line to keep guys fresh so expect also to see Greg Rose, Tyler Baylor, and Anthony “Tank” Booker.
LB: The leader of the of lb core is MIKE Ruben Hyppolite #11. He needs to put on some weight but he’s one of those guys who flies around the field and always seems to be in on the tackle. He’s a thumper and on the best tacklers on the team. The WILL was Fanajae Gotay who got hurt game 1. The he was replaced by super talented freshman Brandon Jennings, who also got hurt last week. He hasn’t been officially ruled out but I’ll be surprised if he played. So next man up is Gereme Spraggins. Spraggins has been great against the run but seems to struggle in coverage. SAM is Holt is pretty decent pass rusher. Behind him is “Chop” Robinson who is a borderline 5* true freshman. Chop is a beast in pass rush. Lastly is the JACK with Durrell Nchami. Nchami is coming on a knee injury which ended his season last year. He seems to be starting to get back up to speed. This LB is immensely talented but will sometimes struggle with gap assignments. They also have a tendency to lose contain so a good running QB could take advantage of that.
DB: This is the pride of the Maryland defense. Maryland had 3 legit corners with leader Deonte Banks, ultra talented COVID FR Tarheeb Still #12, and Jakorian Bennett. Unfortunately our best CB Banks went down in game 2 and seems like he’s possibly done for the year. Still and Jakorian Bennett are still a top tier CB duo though. On obvious passing downs Kenny Bennett or Isaiah Hazel will come in. At safety we have Nick Cross #3 and Jordan Mosely. Cross is a superstar and likely Maryland’s best pro prospect. Supposedly the fastest player on Maryland and has 2 ints this year. He’s not you’re typical centerfield type safety though. You’ll see him guarding in the flats, aggressively pursuing the run and they’ll bring him on blitzes. He’s the do it all type player. Mosely is kind of a jack of all trades type. He doesn’t excel at anything but isn’t particularly bad at anything either. Maryland will mostly play “Cat Coverage” as Locksley calls it. Meaning you guard this cat, you guard this cat. So look for mostly man coverage with tight aggressive, physical play. A QB with very good downfield accuracy can take advantage of mostly 1-1 coverage that Maryland plays, but it will take some great throws as our DBs are pretty good at blanketing. A more strict officiating crew could hurt MD as they’ll most likely get more DPI calls with how aggressive they are.
