Maryland football 2016 recruiting class prediction 1.1, now that 3-star CB Antwaine Richardson has committed

The Maryland football team got a commitment on Tuesday from three-star Florida cornerback Antwaine Richardson, which doesn't drastically change our class projection but does give Maryland some nice secondary depth.

Richardson will enroll early – this week, actually – and becomes the fourth defensive back in Maryland's 2016 class. He's also the team's fifth Florida pickup in a week. Depending on your accounting, Maryland has either 16 or 17 verbal commits for the class and is something like five scholarships shy of its 85-slot limit, mandated by the NCAA. So Maryland has a ways to go to fill up a maximum 25-man class, but its broader roster situation might inhibit that.

Here's a Wednesday class prediction. We'll curate this list throughout the week, leading up to next Wednesday's National Signing Day.

This view could change throughout the next week, and I like to distinguish between projecting that a player will go one direction and reporting that he will, in fact, go that direction. What you'll read here is very much the former.

Players who are verbally committed are in bold, and recruiting rankings come via the 247Sports Composite.

Quarterbacks

Chase Fourcade, unrated, New Orleans (Archbishop Rummel)

Ramar Williams, 3 stars, District Heights, Md. (Bishop McNamara)

Williams wants a Maryland offer but hasn't yet gotten one, and his fate with Maryland could be tied to dual threat Tyrrell Pigrome. It was brought to my attention by a few of our commenters and others yesterday that Virginia Tech, maybe Maryland's biggest competition for Pigrome, wants him as a slot receiver and not a quarterback. If that's true, it strikes me as a good thing for Maryland, but maybe not a great thing for those who hope for a Williams offer. (Though, Williams is willing to come to Maryland as not necessarily a quarterback, so perhaps that relationship is a loose one.)

Hokies coach Justin Fuente has a great quarterback-coaching reputation and is a hard guy for a school like Maryland to out-recruit. Pigrome's status could have a serious ripple effect for Maryland, impacting Williams, other quarterbacks and receiver Trevon Diggs.

Running backs

LaDerrien Wilson, 3 stars, Kissimmee, Fla. (Osceola)

Lorenzo Harrison, 3 stars, Hyattsville, Md. (DeMatha Catholic)

Jake Funk, 3 stars, Damascus, Md. (Damascus)

Nothing that I've seen suggests a reason to anticipate any change here, although – as we learned on Tuesday night – these things can change quickly.

Tight ends

Noah Barnes, 2 stars, Auburn, Ala. (Auburn)

Receivers

Tino Ellis, 4 stars, Hyattsville, Md. (DeMatha Catholic)

DJ Turner, 3 stars, Hyattsville, Md. (DeMatha Catholic)

Trevon Diggs, 4 stars, Rockville, Md. (The Avalon School)

I still think Maryland getting Diggs depends heavily on Williams also coming. I don't think it's a dead certainty that Diggs comes if Williams does, but I think there's a strong chance that one leads to the other. I'd define it as better than 51 percent, which is why I'm projecting Diggs to Maryland. I also don't think verbal commitments – like the one Diggs made to Alabama – mean much of anything.

Offensive tackles

Terek Zingale, 3 stars, Macedonia, Ohio (Nordonia)

Brian Plummer, 3 stars, Sykesville, Md. (South Carroll Senior)

No new information here, but someone brought this article to my attention on Tuesday night:

"I am no longer committed to Maryland," Hall stated. "I spoke with Coach (D.J.) Durkin, and he said they couldn't promise me my scholarship with the grayshirt."

"Nobody has offered yet, but I was being looked at by Toledo, Ohio University, Eastern Michigan," he added. "I visited Ohio State, and they said I can be a preferred walkon with them."

It certainly seems like Ohio tackle Alex Hall isn't committed to Maryland. I was out of the country traveling when that story was published, but this seems like it went down very quietly. Hall is still listed as a "hard commit" on 247Sports as of this writing, but Scout has Hall on the record saying he's gone. So, he doesn't seem to be part of the class.

This could lead Maryland to add another tackle. Maryland isn't as well-stocked there as at guard. Via the database at 247Sports, here are some names: Washington's Jauan Williams (4 stars), Ohio's Darius Harper (3 stars) and New Jersey's Thomas Lopez (unrated). Williams is reasonably cool on Maryland but at least considering the Terps, although I don't think Maryland is exactly chasing him.

Offensive guards

Terrance Davis, 4 stars, Hyattsville, Md. (DeMatha Catholic)

Richard Merritt, 4 stars, Washington (Archbishop Carroll)

Defensive linemen

Aaron Thompson, 3 stars, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Dillard)

Terrell Hall, 4 stars, Washington (St. John's College)

Hall said very nice things about both Maryland and Alabama (as well as some other schools) in a paywalled Rivals article published on Tuesday. The smart people on these things are totally up in the air about what Hall will do, though it seems like Alabama and Maryland are the two favorites.

Linebackers

None. But maybe Landon's Keith Simms gets involved, or someone we're not even thinking about.

Via TerpsDMV2UMD in the comments, it might also be worth watching Tavante Beckett, a three-star outside backer committed to Virginia Tech. The Hokies appear to have the last official visit with him, however.

Defensive backs

Cornerbacks

Antwaine Richardson, 3 stars, Delray Beach, Fla. (Atlantic)

Travon Stott, 3 stars, Olney, Md. (Good Counsel)

Elisha Daniels, 3 stars, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Cardinal Gibbons)

A few people asked about KJ Sails, the Florida cornerback Maryland offered a few weeks ago. The 247Sports Crystal Ball gives Maryland a plurality of the vote for Sails, but there hasn't been a lot of recent buzz about him and multiple people who know more than me have said not to expect him. So I'm not putting him here now, but Sails is set for a late official visit next weekend, and Aazaar Abdul-Rahim is very good at recruiting. He seems like a legitimate possibility.

Safeties

Elijah Daniels, 3 stars, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Cardinal Gibbons)

JJ Givens, 3 stars, Mechanicsville, Va. (Atlee)

Somewhere in the secondary

Tyrek Tisdale, 3 stars, Orlando, Fla. (Oak Ridge)

Punters

Wade Lees, unrated, Australia.

The changes from yesterday's class projection are pretty straightforward:

Offensive tackle Alex Hall out. Cornerback Antwaine Richardson in.

The rationale for most of these projections is contained in Tuesday's post. I'll continue to monitor every bit of information that comes across the Internet and stay in touch with as many people as I can.