Will Likely will play in ‘all 3 phases’ for Maryland football, DJ Durkin says at Big Ten media day

Maryland football will continue to use cornerback Will Likely on offense, head coach DJ Durkin said at Big Ten media days.

“Will is a guy that has involvement in all three phases of our game, for sure,” Durkin said. “How much and to what [end], those are all decisions that we’ll make as we work through camp and decide what’s best for our team and what he can handle.”

Likely played offense in a handful of games for Maryland last season after Mike Locksley replaced Randy Edsall as the team’s coach at midseason. Likely had a few really nice plays, including a long catch-and-run against Wisconsin.

The challenge for Maryland, in using Likely on offense, will be to make sure his energy stays conserved. Maryland has a lot of capable receivers but not a lot of No. 1 cornerbacks, and Durkin (a defensive-minded coach) will need to ensure Likely has the stamina to be just as good on defense as he would be if he weren’t taking any offensive snaps at all. That’s a tall order, but Likely is such a well-conditioned athlete that it’s probably not impossible.