The Darnell Savage NFL draft-day mock roundup

The NFL Draft is here!

Starting at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network, 32 players will be selected in the first round of the draft. Maryland had a first-round selection for the first time this decade last year, as DJ Moore went 24th overall to the Carolina Panthers, and there’s a real possibility Darnell Savage Jr. follows in his former teammate’s footsteps Thursday night.

Savage has been a fast riser throughout the draft process, highlighted by a stellar performance at the combine in March. While he’s gotten mostly second-round projections in the last few weeks, an increasing number of mock drafts and big boards peg him as a first-rounder. At ESPN, for instance, Mel Kiper Jr. has Savage 20th in his player rankings, while Todd McShay has the Terps’ safety 28th.

Here’s a look at where Savage stands according to a slew of prognosticators. I’m only using select mock drafts from the past two days, so just Tuesday and Wednesday. You’ll see plenty of mocks over the next few hours, and he’s sure to pop up in a few of those as well.

First-round projections

Rotoworld, Josh Norris (Tues.) — No. 23, Washington Redskins
Pro Football Focus, Steve Palazzolo (Tues.) — No. 25, Philadelphia Eagles
NFL.com, Daniel Jeremiah (Wed.) — No. 27, Oakland Raiders
Boston Globe, Ben Violin (Wed.) — No. 28, Los Angeles Chargers
CBS Sports, Ryan Wilson (Wed.) — No. 29, Seattle Seahawks
The Draft Network, Joe Marino (Wed.) — No. 29, Seattle Seahawks

Missing out

ESPN, NFL Nation (Tues.)
NFL.com, Rhett Lewis (Tues.)
Bleacher Report, Mike Tanier (Tues.)
Washington Post, John Clayton (Wed.)
The Ringer, Danny Kelly (Wed.)
CBS Sports, RJ White (Wed.)
USA Today, Nate Davis (Wed.)
Walter Football, Walt (Wed.)

Whatever the case, plenty of teams have fallen in love with Savage’s playmaking and athleticism, and he won’t have to wait too long to hear his name called.

In other news

On Pardon My Take, Kiper talked not only about Savage, but also about ... Maryland women’s lacrosse?

Cathy Reese’s Terps have been ranked No. 2 in the polls all season, but comes in at No. 1 in the NCAA selection committee’s rankings as of right now.

Women’s golf is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. The Terps will head to the Auburn regional from May 6-8 as a No. 13 seed.

I talked to a bunch of assistant football coaches last week. Here’s a chunk of what they had to say about coming to Maryland and their new team.

We talked about basketball roster changes, football commitments and more in our latest podcast.

In other NFL Draft news, we continued our profile series with Jesse Aniebonam, who should earn a look as a pass rusher at the next level.

Here’s a great profile of Ty Johnson by The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach ($).

And here’s Anthony McFarland on the Big Ten Network.

CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish has updated his way-too-early top 25 for the 2019-20 college basketball season, and Maryland is all the way up to No. 5.

Andy Katz gave his top headlines of the offseason, and Jalen Smith’s return came in at No. 6 (although it’s an NCAA list and doesn’t include transfers or early departures, which have actually dominated the headlines).

After one season as Maryland women’s basketball’s Director of Recruiting Operations and Player Personnel, Tori Jankoska has taken an assistant coaching position at Missouri State.

And last but not least, two Maryland men’s lacrosse seniors were selected in the first-ever Premier League draft.