Maryland football recruiting: Three-star local DT Keiron Howard commits to Terps

Make that three commits in two days for Randy Edsall and Maryland, as three-star Potomac (Md.) High School defensive tackle Keiron Howard pledged to the Terps Sunday, as first reported by Rivals.

Howard was once considered a Tennessee lean (all five experts who made picks on 247sports's Crystal Ball, including yours truly, had him going to the Vols), but Maryland made a late push and were able to grab his commitment. Besides Tennessee, he held offers from Marshall, New Mexico and Temple, among others, and received interest from Penn State.

The commitment is important in three ways: it continues Maryland's recent momentum on the recruiting trail (five commitments in the past few weeks), strengthens their local ties (four are from the area) and fills a huge position of need in the 2015 class. There's a reason not many colleges use a 3-4 defense -- it's hard to find nose tackles who can play that role. Howard, listed at 6'4" and 295, has the size and strength to be a potential answer there down the road (he's also used basketball to help with his footwork).

Howard is considered a three-star prospect by the 247sports composite, rating him as the 51st-best defensive tackle in the nation and the 18th-best player in the state of Maryland. That gives Maryland commitments from three of the top 20 players in the state (Howard, E.J. Donahue and Ellis McKennie) -- one more than they had in the entire class of 2014.

Here's his highlight film: