Maryland football’s wide receivers have received plenty of attention and notoriety this offseason — and with the 2021 season fast approaching, they’ll soon be able to show why.
The group features a healthy mix of veterans like seniors Brian Cobbs and Dontay Demus and junior Jeshaun Jones, but also electrifying younger players like sophomore Rakim Jarrett.
During last year’s five-game season, those four players combined for 65 receptions, 986 yards and eight touchdowns. Entering this season, the Terps’ receivers will look to build on their on-field production and establish themselves as emotional leaders for the team as well.
“I feel like in past years, stuff might’ve went bad and we didn’t really have that voice or that unit that was controlling the flow of the offense and getting everybody back to neutral,” Cobbs said. “I feel like that’s something now that the receiver room does really well.”
That leadership in the receiver room has already come to pass during preseason camp and scrimmages. The key is remaining steady regardless of whether a play yields a positive or negative result, according to Cobbs.
“If bad things happen — drops or a turnover — nobody is getting down,” Cobbs said. “If somebody does get down, the receivers are most likely the first ones to step up to that person and tell them, ‘Everything is going to be OK, it’s just one bad play, forget it, move on to the next play.'”
For Cobbs, increased vocal leadership represents an area of growth entering his fourth season in College Park. In the past, he typically chose to lead by example. The 6-foot-2 receiver caught 34 passes for 539 yards and one touchdown from 2018-2020.
However, Cobbs has opted for a different approach, citing his increased comfort level and confidence within the offense now that he is entering his third year in head coach Michael Locksley’s system. The senior recognizes his voice carries a lot of weight in helping to set the right example for younger players.
It’s also emblematic of an attitude change within the Terps’ program this offseason. Entering the 2021 season, the Terps are committed to being a player-driven team as opposed to a coach-driven team, Locksley explained.
“As I like to say, you start seeing the player-driven culture really surface especially when you have hot days like today,” Locksley said after the Terps’ Aug. 19 scrimmage, held on a humid College Park day. “We’ve been able to get out and really work through the weather adversity and I like the way they’ve responded collectively.”
In addition to the coaches holding the players accountable, Locksley’s player-driven approach emphasizes the need for the players to preach that accountability with one another. That vision has come to fruition throughout the offseason with player-run practices and new players showcasing increased leadership.
Greater accountability represents Locksley and the coaching staff’s commitment to being disciplined on both sides of the ball. That was an issue last season for the Terps, who averaged 79.6 penalty yards per game, one of the highest totals in the Big Ten.
Offensively, the Terps know those penalties and self-inflicted wounds can prevent them from reaching their potential as a unit.
“We have a lot of explosive playmakers all over the field and I think our biggest challenge is going to be not beating ourselves with stupid penalties, self-inflicted wounds,” Cobbs said. “If we take care of that and we’re able to get the ball in the playmakers hands and just play efficiently and play fast I feel like that’s where we are going to have the most success.”
Therefore, those preventable penalties are being approached differently this season. For example, if a player lines up the wrong way before a snap during practice, he may be subject to increased conditioning or push-ups with a teammate after practice.
“Instead of kind of letting it slide and being like, ‘Don’t do it tomorrow,’ we’re taking the initiative to, I guess, punish ourselves, while also understanding that penalties are an important part of the game and you can’t win if you have a bunch of them,” Cobbs said.
Maryland kicks off its season against West Virginia in College Park at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 4. The Mountaineers went 6-4 overall and earned a trip to the Liberty Bowl last year. The teams last played in 2015.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics