Here's how Maryland football stands with some of its top local 2018 targets

Maryland football is looking to back up its historic recruiting Class of 2017 with an equally talented Class of 2018. Because the team signed such a large class last year, it’ll be limited with how many signees it can have in this class. In order to even come close to sniffing the top-20 2017 class, this one will have to have to put a premium on quality over quantity.

Last year’s class of 28 signees carried an average 247Sports Composite rating of .8682. It’s early, but this year’s class of five verbal commits carries an average of .8853. If that holds, Maryland would have a chance at landing a second consecutive top-25 class, even with fewer players. To make that dream a reality, the Terps will have to sign some of their top targets. A few of them spoke quite highly of Maryland over the weekend:

Daniel George

247Sports Composite Ranking: .9191
High school: Oxon Hill

George put on a show at The Opening on Sunday. He used every bit of his 6’2, 200-pound frame to beat defenders at the line of scrimmage and shield them from getting back in the play. Exhibit A:

He also looked much quicker than defenders who tried to stop him. Exhibit B:

George spoke highly of Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He said he’d like to hear more from Florida State and Tennessee in addition to visiting North Carolina over the summer.

“Penn State because of Coach Gattis and the relationship I have with him and Coach Franklin,” George told Testudo Times at The Opening on Sunday. “Maryland because it’s the home school and I know everybody there, and then Virginia Tech because of Coach Fuente and the receiver situation they have over there.”

George added that he doesn’t have a top group as of right now; these are just the schools that are in contact the most. He said he had a good visit to West Virginia last week and would have the playing time he wants if he goes there. He most recently visited Virginia Tech and Penn State in January, but visits Maryland “whenever [he has] the time.”

Most important to George is playing time and his own development as a player, two things Maryland has sold hard to recruits for the last couple of seasons.

“The movement is definitely real,” George said. “I see how everybody’s just committing there and doing it. Just us knowing about each other since we were little and growing up together, it’s a big factor.”

Still, keeping George home may be an uphill battle for the Terps. Experts unanimously predict he’ll end up at Penn State. George plans to commit in late July or after his senior season.

Dontay Demus Jr.

247Sports Composite Ranking: .8405
High school: Friendship Academy

Demus had one of the best days of any receiver at The Opening. You may not expect somebody with a 6’4, 205-pound frame to be as shifty as Demus, but he made defensive backs miss in two of his three reps. What you would expect is that he can bring in jump balls and use his body to secure possession — and you’d be right:

Demus said he talks to Maryland and Louisville the most, with some Temple and Navy thrown in there too. He’s got friends at both Navy and Temple, where he’s being sold playing time and being recruited as a difference-maker on the outside. Demus has been talking to Louisville for a long time now, he said, and finally received an offer late last week.

Perhaps his biggest connection, though, is to Maryland, where Aazaar Abdul-Rahim is the defensive backs coach and D.C. area recruiter. Demus attends the Friendship Academy, where Abdul-Rahim started and brought the football program to prominence.

“Maryland’s the hometown school,” Demus said. “I’d like to get back up there and give back. Here and there I might visit; it might be twice a week. They were my first offer, so they showed a lot of love before any other school.”

Demus said he wants to find somewhere he can play early, which he’s surely being sold in College Park. Maryland, Louisville and Temple “will definitely” make the list he says he may release toward the end of the summer, but there has been some buzz that he’s closer to shutting it down in the near future. Either way, Maryland seems to be in a good position here.

Raymond Boone

247Sports Composite Ranking: N/A
High school: Eleanor Roosevelt

Boone started his high school career at DeMatha before transferring to Roosevelt just a few miles up the road in Greenbelt. He’s one of the best pure athletes in the DMV, and a raw talent on the football field.

He said he talks to Maryland, Pitt and Virginia Tech the most and hopes to visit Pitt soon. Maryland, though, has stood out for Boone.

“I’m probably visiting about twice a week just to get up there and see how it feels,” Boone said. “Everybody in Georgia wants to stay in Georgia, so why can’t we do the same at Maryland?”

Maryland and Virginia Tech will “definitely” make the list he plans to trim down in late July.

In other news:

No offers were publicly extended last week, which is understandable with the spring game being the main focus of the weekend. Now that the spring game is over though, the staff is already back out on the trail.

The Terps had their spring game on Saturday. These are the guys we know visited: