(The second of 10 posts breaking down Maryland's 2010 football prospects. Today's unit: Secondary)
The common storyline with Maryland secondary can be summed up in two lines.
The Terps are settled at safety.
Beyond Cameron Chism, it's complete guesswork at cornerback.
But let's look a little deeper, particularly at just how many (few?) known quantities Maryland really has to work with.
MARYLAND SECONDARY CAREER STARTS ENTERING EACH SEASON, 2001-10
| Year | CB |
S |
TOT |
| 2001 | 32 | 26 | 58 |
| 2002 | 21 | 4 |
25 |
| 2003 | 49 | 32 | 81 |
| 2004 | 29 | 0 | 29 |
| 2005 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 2006 | 16 | 11 | 27 |
| 2007 | 15 | 25 | 40 |
| 2008 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| 2009 | 17 | 15 | 32 |
| 2010 |
10 | 7 |
17 |
It's an interesting trend. Maryland is almost always fairly untested at safety. It had Christian Varner back in 2006 and 2007, and Terrell Skinner back in 2009. That's it for full-time starters returning for another go-round over the last seven years.
Far wiser folks than I can go ahead and debate the merits of experience at safety coinciding with the midpack results of the last six seasons. It certainly seems like something relatively minor compared to other matters that have plagued the program, but it is interesting nonetheless.
However, it has to be a bit disconcerting that Maryland is so set at safety with a pair of options (Antwine Perez and Kenny Tate) who have combined to start for a little more than half a season.
Granted, Perez is a veteran (he was a teammate of Matt Leinart at Southern Cal before he transferred back east, so he's been around a while) and Tate was a heralded recruit who was supposed to make a massive impact last year but got stuck in a more conventional role when Jamari McCollough suffered a sprained ankle in the opener at California.
Both are solid options, and with certainty comes a degree of comfort. Maryland will gladly accept whatever knowns it can find at this stage, and the steady Perez figures to be one of the safer players on the roster to project. If he can remain healthy, plug him in for 70 tackles and a couple of interceptions.
Tate is the more curious likely starter, in large part because of the hype that accompanied him into last season. He did have a few notable moments --- introducing himself to Clemson's Kyle Parker in the backfield comes to mind --- but for the most part was just another cog in a machine that looked bad early and gradually improved a bit as a long season advanced.
More to the point is Maryland has perilously little known beyond those two. Eric Franklin played in the final five games when he was forced to burn his redshirt after Perez was injured at Duke. There could be more true freshmen on the way, with Titus Till and Matt Robinson possibilities to play early.
Not to be forgotten is Travis Hawkins, a corner-turned-safety who redshirted a year ago after coming in as a hyped recruit. He had some moments in March and April --- particularly in the spring game --- and has the potential to be a surprise guy for the unit.
Where Maryland could really use a surprise is at corner, where it is its most inexperienced since Gerrick McPherson and Josh Wilson brought 10 starts between them into the 2005 season.
Chism was tossed into extended action last year when Nolan Carroll broke his leg in the season's second game, and defenses quickly tried to pick on him. It led to some big plays, as well as a few forgettable games as well. Perhaps the most startling number was his tackle total: 66, just three shy of finishing second on the team.
Obviously, it's better for a corner to break up passes rather than drag guys down after gains, but it's not entirely Chism's fault he needed to roll up that stat. And ultimately, he should be better for his experiences from last fall, when he became Maryland's first regular sophomore starter at corner since 2004.
But after Chism, it's unknown just how deep Maryland can go.
Trenton Hughes and Dexter McDougle seem likely to split time at the other corner. Hughes probably could have used a little more playing time last year, and he looked decent while playing the second half of the blowout loss to Virginia Tech. McDougle came out of the same high school that produced Torrey Smith, and his was one of the few redshirts that seemed in danger but was ultimately retained a year ago.
There's also Avery Graham, a redshirt freshman speedster who defensive coordinator Don Brown praised as an emerging player late in spring ball. Senior Michael Carter, who played eight games in 2008 before not appearing a year ago, is also a possibility to play.
That untested quartet --- Hughes, McDougle, Graham and Carter --- own all of 14 career tackles in 24 games, though Hughes was at least a consistent special teams contributor a year ago. Maryland will need help from some of them, if not all, if it is to improve on its lousy pass defense (97th nationally and last in the ACC at 245.5 yards a game).
Can the Terps make a sudden surge into the top half of the conference at defending the pass? Perhaps. But they'll need Perez and Tate to demonstrate they are sound starters rather than capable backups, and some unknowns at the college level to thrive in their first extended playing time.
Those are some significant ifs --- but that's to be expected from a unit that carries a fairly short track record into this season.
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