:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48703451/DSC_14515jpg09.0.0.jpg)
Three-star local running back Jake Funk, a midyear enrollee at Maryland, has officially joined the Terps' football program, the team announced on Wednesday.
The Damascus, Md. running back committed to play for Maryland on Oct. 16, just days after Randy Edsall was fired.
Funk put together a historic senior season on offense for the Swarmin' Hornets, rushing for 2,866 yards and a state-record 57 touchdowns.
He is listed at 5'11'' and 205 pounds, but he'll get bigger once Maryland starts to put him through their weight-training and nutrition regimen. While the 247Sports Composite says Funk is the 90th best running back in the country and the 35th-best player in the state of Maryland, 247Sports has him listed as the 67th best running back and the 28th best player in the state.
Funk didn't seem to get a lot of interest from major programs. Wisconsin offered him a scholarship in May of last year, but outside of the service academies (Air Force, Army and Navy) and Ohio, the only other offers he got were from Ivy League schools, Towson, Old Dominion, and Charlotte.
Any player that wins both All-Met Offensive Player of the Year and Maryland Gatorade Offensive Player of the Year honors is no slouch. It is unusual that a player slips through the cracks like that, but it was really Funk's senior season that propelled him up the rankings.
If Funk plays next season, he will benefit from a talented and more experienced offensive line. If you look purely at the numbers, Maryland's offensive line helped the Terps rush for more yards per game and gain more yards per carry than national champion Alabama.