Maryland football’s 2018 season hinges on the rehabs of Tyrrell Pigrome & Kasim Hill

It’s summer, so we’re previewing Maryland football’s roster one position group at a time. This week, we’re focusing on quarterbacks. After giving an overview of the situation under center yesterday, it’s time to take a look at everyone at the position.

We’ll start with probably the most important players—and most significant unknowns—on the entire roster: the two quarterbacks who both suffered season-ending injuries last year, rehabbed together and will probably compete with each other for the starting job again. They’re almost always discussed in the same breath, so it makes sense to write about them together.

Tyrrell Pigrome, QB, No. 3

Height: 5’11
Weight: 196 lbs.
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Pinson, Alabama
High school: Clay-Chalkville HS

2017 stats: 9-of-12, 175 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception; 11 carries, 64 yards, 1 rush TD
Career stats: 46-of-83 (55.4%), 497 yards, 4 touchdowns; 3 interceptions; 73 carries, 318 yards, 5 rush TD

Kasim Hill, QB, No. 11

Height: 6’2
Weight: 232 lbs.
Year: RS freshman
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
High school: St. John’s College HS

2017 stats: 18-of-21, 230 yards, 2 touchdowns; 12 carries, 60 yards, 1 rush TD

The background

Pigrome was a late addition to the 2016 class, committing on National Signing Day. Maryland was still weeks removed from losing Dwayne Haskins, and while Max Bortenschlager also joined the Terps late in the cycle, Pigrome was able to carve out a role for himself as a freshman. He appeared in 11 games, making one start, and scored the walk-off touchdown against UCF.

Hill committed less than three months after Pigrome, although he was a part of the following class. The four-star prospect never wavered from his pledge, and he officially joined the Terps last summer.

Both impressed early in 2017, then tore their ACLs.

These two separated themselves from the rest of Maryland’s quarterbacks in fall camp, and Pigrome ultimately earned the nod for the season opener at Texas. After throwing a pick-six on his first attempt of the year, he settled in and recorded 175 passing yards, 64 rushing yards and three total touchdowns before suffering his ACL injury in the third quarter.

Hill entered in relief and was every bit as good. He completed all three of his passes and scored a rushing touchdown down the stretch. The following week, he went 13-of-16 with a pair of passing touchdowns as Maryland dropped 63 points on Towson. When he went down in the first quarter against eventual self-proclaimed national champion UCF, the score was tied 3-3. But everything fell apart after that, as the Terps lost that game 38-10 and would ultimately drop eight of their final 10 games.

The recoveries are ongoing, but the Terps seem optimistic.

If there’s a single not-horrible thing about two quarterbacks tearing their ACLs in the first three games of a football season, it’s that they’ve been able to go through the rehab process together and are on similar timetables. Every time he’s been asked about the duo, head coach DJ Durkin has said they were “ahead of schedule,” and at least at open spring practices, they were running, throwing and working out together on the side of the field.

The expectation is still for both Pigrome and Hill to be around 100 percent by the start of fall practice. From there, it’s most likely they compete for the starting job again. It’s still way too early to predict what happens beyond that, or whether we can expect the starter out of camp to remain in that role—whether healthy or not—all season. Right now, either of these two seems like a reasonable guess, and with neither losing a year of eligibility in 2017, both will have opportunities for several seasons to come.