Terps Pick Up Another Friendship Commitment, Kick Off Potentially Big Week

Maryland's latest football commitment, Jermaine Carter, fulfills two Maryland football recruiting memes: he's a linebacker, and he goes to Friendship Collegiate. (h/t to bwm beating us in the FanPosts)

I'm not so hot about the linebacker thing; Maryland's now brought in double-digit linebackers over the past two years, and they're well-and-truly starting to overload there. It's not a negative, mind you; competition is a good thing, and those that don't work out at 'backer can switch over to safety, or tight end, or long snapper for all I care. With all of these prospects, Maryland's bound to have a really solid linebacker corps in a few years time, which is critical for the 3-4 defense. I am worrying that certain other needs are being overlooked - where are the linemen? - but there's so much time left in the class that I'm not worried.

I am crazy about the Friendship Collegiate thing, though. All it does if further solidify that already crystallizing pipeline, and that's a very good thing. The old powers of DeMatha and Gilman (which is still actually in power, unlike DeMatha) aren't likely to cozy up to Maryland after decades of average relationships; that's why the rise of Good Counsel and now Friendship are such big opportunities for the Terrapins, and they're taking full advantage. Here's hoping it all pays off with a Tabor-sized commitment next year.

As for Carter himself: he's a bit undersized at only 200 pounds, which is especially small for the 3-4 scheme. He'll either need to bulk up or move back to safety, where he could play almost as a rover, closer to the line of scrimmage than usual. He plays much bigger than his size, though, and does look very good attacking, which is supposedly what Brian Stewart's looking for. He actually reminds me a bit of Darin Drakeford when he came in; some of the tools are there, at the very least.

With any luck, this won't be the last commitment of the week, either. Highly-regarded local receiver Taivon Jacobs is announcing tomorrow, choosing between Maryland, Ohio State, and West Virginia. And then on Friday, Florida defensive tackle Kinglsey Opara (who visited Maryland earlier this month) will pick between the Terps and WVU. Those are two very, very big decisions; Jacobs would be crucial to maintaining local momentum after losing out on Paul Harris and Marcus Newby, while Opara is one of the few quality defensive linemen the Terrapins are tracking at the moment.

I'll take this as a good omen for those two decisions. Hopefully.