Taivon Jacobs should be Maryland’s No. 1 wideout in 2018

It’s Receivers Week here at Testudo Times, as we continue our positional journey through Maryland’s roster this summer. After an outlook for the receiving corps yesterday, today we’ll take a look at Maryland’s most experienced receiver heading into 2018.

Taivon Jacobs, WR, No. 12

Height: 5’11
Weight: 170 pounds
Year: Redshirt senior
Hometown: Camp Springs, Maryland
High school: Suitland

The background

Jacobs attended high school about 30 minutes from Maryland at Suitland High School. He flipped from Ohio State to the Terps on National Signing Day in 2013 to be closer to his daughter, Bailey, and play with his older brother, Levern, who also played wide receiver at Maryland.

Before making 47 catches for 553 yards and five touchdowns last year, Jacobs was only healthy for one of his first four years at Maryland. He missed 2013 recovering from a torn ACL, then suffered a season-ending injury in the 2014 opener against James Madison. He finally suited up for Maryland in 2015 and had 21 catches for 264 yards and two touchdowns, only to miss all of 2016 with an injury.

Jacobs emerged as the best option behind DJ Moore last year.

Jacobs started 2017 with three catches for 80 yards and a touchdown against Texas, and followed that up with five catches for 60 yards against Towson. He had just 10 catches for 51 yards in the next four games, but started to come on and be a bigger part of the offense as teams focused on DJ Moore. When opponents started to lock in on the Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year, Jacobs took advantage and had more than 60 percent of his receptions and yards in the second half of the season.

This year, he’s in position to be the No. 1 threat.

Maryland has talent at wide receiver this year, but not a lot of experience. Outside of Jacobs, the Terps return only 38 catches and 287 yards from last season. Jacobs had more yards than that in Maryland’s final six games last year.

Since he’s the only player who has been a proven target for Maryland in the past, Jacobs will start the year as the No. 1 wide receiver for whoever lines up under center against Texas. He may be relied on more early in the year with so many receivers getting their first serious playing time, with the passing attack varying as the year goes on and more reliable targets emerge.