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Reviewing Maryland's 2006 football recruiting class

As Maryland convened more than four years ago for the 2006 season, it was coming off consecutive losing seasons and had added a 17-man freshman class in Dave Sollazzo's first year as recruiting coordinator.

Only one of those players --- fullback Cory Jackson --- was a contributor on Maryland's Champs Sports Bowl team. Many of those players didn't see the field at all. And a few guys --- transfer Antwine Perez and walk-on Paul Pinegar --- joined the team within months.

As much as fans salivate over recruiting rankings, few bother to look back at a recruiting class and see how it really worked out in the long run. Of course, that's only possible once everyone has passed through a program.

The time to assess the '06 class in its totality is now, when their accomplishments are still fresh in mind. This isn't an analysis of pure talent, per se, so much as it is as close to an objective assessment of production over the course of a career as is possible.

Prep school products like Bruce Campbell, Quintin McCree and Ronnie Tyler --- all of whom signed in 2006 but didn't enroll until 2007 --- are pushed into the next class. Same goes for Jamarr Robinson, who grayshirted and didn't come to College Park until '07.

In any case, here's the tiering system:

5 stars: All-America performer or high NFL Draft selection
4 stars: Multi-year starter at a high level
3 stars: Multi-year starter or strong one-year starter
2 stars: One-year starter or organizational player who contributed for much of his career
1 star: Organizational player with modest on-field contributions
0 stars: Never played

Of the 19 players evaluated (and 17 members of the original class), nine contributed nothing or very little on the field. As a whole, it was one of Ralph Friedgen's least efficient recruiting classes, and there's no doubt it led to the holes that fostered the Terps' 2-10 nosedive in 2010 2009. But there were still good pieces in that class, as you can see after the jump.

A familiar voice chimes in on Sterling Gibbs

Loyal readers know this is not a place for recruiting news. That's best left to people who are willing to invest a lot more time in that sort of thing; if you don't dive into it, you'll get exposed a lot quicker than in other niches.

So it comes as no surprise that Maryland acknowledged today that Nick Faust and Sterling Gibbs sent their signed letters of intent in over the last week. Maryland is losing three scholarship players after this season, so getting at least two guys in the fold during the fall signing period is a good step.

Faust is a Baltimore product, while Gibbs comes out of Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey.

Know who else is a Seton Hall Prep product? Maryland linebacker Alex Wujciak, who played with Gibbs' older brother Ashton (now a star guard at Pittsburgh). Wujciak's younger brother, Boston College-bound Connor, and Sterling Gibbs are both seniors this season.

So Wujciak, who is never afraid to opine on the issues of the day, was only too eager recently to chime in on one of his school's future basketball players.

"He's good," Wujciak said. "He'll walk in and you'll think he's the manager. He's bow-legged, and he's got a little smile on his face. And when you put the basketball in his hands, it's over. It's crazy."

Is it a top-of-the-line recruiting analyst? No. But for now, it's at least a different take, and an amusing one with a different sense of perspective at that. Then again, that's always to be counted upon when dealing with Wujciak.

When your Maryland predictions go wrong, Alex Wujciak and A.J. Francis will let you know about it

For all the bluster about not worrying about what the outside world thinks, the truth is these are sweet times for the Maryland football team.

They know, after all, exactly what preseason expectations were.

"Publications before the season said we would win five games," nose tackle A.J.  Francis said after last week's rout of Wake Forest gave the Terrapins six wins.

Then he smiled directly at a familiar face and pointedly added, "Isn't that right?"

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But at least there's a good story behind it.

While waiting in at the gate at BWI for a flight to ACC media day, linebacker Alex Wujciak asked me how I thought the Terrapins would do.

This was completely a no-win scenario. Say "8-4" and it's clear you're blowing smoke. Say "2-10" and it's insulting. But those thoughts didn't pass through my mind. Instead, I gave Wujciak the same answer I gave everyone else in July and August, because it was what I actually thought.

Five-and-seven.

That prediction never escaped my mind in the last couple months, even after it was clear when Maryland beat Navy in its opener it had a strong chance to surpass it.

But in a bit of a surprise, Wujciak pointed out the prediction gone awry after Maryland's defeat of Boston College, which meant it was clear there was some hilarity to follow the rest of the season.

"Obviously we surpassed your predictions," he observed this week while enjoying some more needling.

And, to be fair, just about everyone's picks undersold this year's Maryland team.

"I don't know. I mean, 5-7, you were probably giving us the benefit of the doubt," Wujciak said. "According to most people, all the magazines had us winning two games, three games. You're probably the 'best.'"

Added Francis: "It's funny because every publication had us fifth or sixth in the division preseason this year. Apparently, sportswriters know more about football than I do. I guess that's what it is."

At this stage, it's safe to say few people projected a winning season (football guru Phil Steele pick Maryland fourth in the Atlantic, so maybe he's among the few who can assert that) for the Terps, and that's the next feat Maryland can accomplish.

But given the low expectations and, in the minds of some players, snubs in the national rankings, Maryland is banking on getting much credit even if it does upend Miami on Saturday.

"Probably not mainly because nobody's going to respect us no matter what," Francis said. "If we go 10-2 and then go to the ACC championship game and win by 40, people still won't have any respect for us. Nobody ever respects Maryland football, nobody ever does and nobody ever will, I guess. I don't care about people respecting our team. At the end of the day, men lie, women lie, but numbers don't."

For now, the numbers say six wins, triple last year's total. Yes, that's more than five --- a fact Wujciak playfully acknowledged he would continue to bring up as the rest of the season progresses.

"Once for every victory," Wujciak said. "You're going to keep getting crap from us."

More Watch List Mania: Terps' Moten and Wujciak on Butkus radar

Don't know how this slipped through the cracks yesterday, but Maryland's Adrian Moten and Alex Wujciak are among the 51 linebackers on the Butkus Award watch list.

The Terrapins are one of 11 schools to place multiple linebackers on the watch list. Connecticut and North Carolina both have three representatives.

The rundown of the eight ACC players on this particular list:

Mark Herzlich, Boston College
Luke Kuechly, Boston College
Adrian Moten, Maryland
Alex Wujciak, Maryland
Colin McCarthy, Miami
Sean Spence, Miami
Bruce Carter, North Carolina
Kevin Reddick, North Carolina
Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina
Nate Irving, N.C. State

Maryland's Stocked Fridge: No. 25 Alex Wujciak

There's been plenty written about Alex Wujciak over the last couple years.

There will be even more about Wujciak produced this fall.

(As such, there's some reluctance to burn off the best Wujciak stories now. There are, after all, no shortage of them).

More than a little bit of it has focused on his play, which earned him a second-team all-ACC nod in 2008 and then a first-team selection last year despite the 2-10 record of the team around him.

Such votes have a way of punishing exceptional players on bad teams --- a "to-the-victor-goes-the-spoils" sort of thinking. That didn't happen for Wujciak. Considering how little he practiced on his throbbing, ailing knees last year, the feat seems even more remarkable.

He's reached double digits in tackles in 17 of his last 22 games, and he has a serious chance to join E.J. Henderson and D'Qwell Jackson as the only defensive players to earn a spot on a pair of first team all-conference teams in the Ralph Friedgen era. As this list will eventually demonstrate, that's good company to keep.

Wujciak's story is far from over, and he figures to be among Maryland's most entertaining players this fall. There's a good chance he can crank out another 130-tackle season this year (he leads all returning major-college players with a 10.6 tackle average for his career) and climb a bit higher among the greats of the Friedgen era.

All in the family for Wujciak; for Maryland, not so much

GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Alex Wujciak was an all-conference selection a year ago for Maryland, and will likely find himself a preseason all-ACC first team pick later this week.

The linebacker is one of the most recognizable player on the Terrapins' roster as he enters his final season.

Another Wujciak, though, is headed elsewhere in the conference.

Connor Wujciak committed earlier this summer to Frank Spaziani and Boston College, meaning there won't be an offbeat Wujciak dynasty in College Park.

Not that the Terps didn't recruit him.

"It was my brother's decision," Alex Wujciak said. "He turned down Maryland, where I went. He turned down Notre Dame, where my dad went. He loved Boston College. He loved coach Spaz. He was kind of sick of the whole process. He just kind of went with his gut. He's been happy ever since."

Of course, this adds a great layer to Maryland's Oct. 23 visit to Chestnut Hill later this season. Wujciak will be starting the second half of his final season. His brother, meanwhile, will be just months from signing with Boston College.

It offers up quite a conflict and a week filled with trash talk. Wujciak, though, has an idea how it should work out.

"Oh, yeah. He'd better be rooting for me," Wujciak said. "That's the last time he can, I guess, root against Boston College."

Wujciak sees Isaiah Ross as possible opening week starter

GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Maryland had so many injuries last fall, it's easy to simply dwell on the notable names.

Nolan Carroll. Da'Rel Scott. Bruce Campbell. Demetrius Hartsfield. All missed time with various ailments.

But there were other injuries, some of the season-ending variety.

Take Isaiah Ross, who came in as a linebacker and eventually found himself in a reserve role as a defensive end. Until, that is, he suffered a torn ACL and sat out the final three games.

Ross didn't play in the spring, and his name sort of faded into the background. But that could soon change if linebacker Alex Wujciak's assessment of the situation is accurate.

"He's been working his ass off," Wujciak said. "He's going to be a really good player. In my opinion, I think he'll end up starting the first game of the season. He's a good football player. He's not some crazy freak athlete, but he's a football player. He's been working hard recovering."

Maryland's Sept. 6 season opener against Navy is just a day shy of 10 months after Ross hobbled off the field for the final time in 2009. He enters camp as the No. 2 Anchor (the end who lines up on the tight end side) behind Justin Anderson.

But Anderson's always a possibility to shift back inside. Should Ross have a particularly strong August, that scenario could play out.

"Camp will be big for him to get back into it," Wujciak said. "When you have a knee injury, you kind of hesitate for a little bit. Once he gets that out of there, he'll be fine."

Wujciak should know. He dealt with knee injuries early in his career, and sat out the entire 2007 season after tearing an ACL in camp. Like Ross, he had a veteran who could provide counsel on the rehab process --- as well as proof a guy can return at a level even better than he was before the injury.

"He always asks me questions about what to expect from your knee here, kind of like I did with Erin [Henderson]," Wujciak said. "It's just a never-ending process. I told 'You're going to be sore during camp. It's just going to happen. You're not going to be able to walk one morning. It's going to happen.  As camp ends, it'll start to feel better and your leg will feel stronger and things will be all right for the beginning of the season."

Guess who's going to Greensboro? Torrey Smith and Alex Wujciak

Today brought one of those milestone moments that indicated football season is just a little bit closer.

The ACC sent out an e-mail this afternoon indicating which players are expected to attend the conference's football media day later this month.

Maryland's representatives, as indicated by the entry title, are wideout Torrey Smith and linebacker Alex Wujciak.

If memory serves correctly, they join these recent Terrapin reps:

2005: Stephon Heyer and D'Qwell Jackson
2006: Sam Hollenbach and Josh Wilson
2007: Andrew Crummey and Christian Varner
2008: Jeremy Navarre and Edwin Williams
2009: Nolan Carroll and Chris Turner

A notable point for the entire conference is the presence of four quarterbacks --- Florida State's Christian Ponder, North Carolina's T.J. Yates, Virginia's Marc Verica and Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor. It wasn't all that long ago that Matt Ryan was the only QB in attendance.

As for the player most likely to draw the largest crowd, there's little doubt that will be Mark Herzlich, the Boston College linebacker who will return after missing last season because of cancer treatments. But N.C. State linebacker Nate Irving --- who missed last year after an offseason car wreck --- will also be on hand.

The full list, courtesy of the ACC:

Boston College: T Anthony Castonzo, LB Mark Herzlich

Clemson: T Chris Hairston, S DeAndre McDaniel

Duke: C Bryan Morgan, CB Chris Rwabukamba

Florida State: QB Christian Ponder, DT Everett Dawkins

Georgia Tech: RB Roddy Jones, DE Jason Peters

Maryland: WR Torrey Smith, LB Alex Wujciak

Miami: DT Allen Bailey, K/P Matt Bosher

North Carolina: DE Robert Quinn, QB T.J. Yates

N.C. State: LB Nate Irving, WR Owen Spencer

Virginia: CB Ras-I Dowling, QB Marc Verica

Virginia Tech: DT John Graves, QB Tyrod Taylor

Wake Forest: RB Josh Adams, C Russell Nenon

Terps' Wujciak lands on Nagurski watch list

Maryland linebacker Alex Wujciak was named to the Nagurski Award watch list today.

The Nagurski Award honors the nation's top defensive player. Wujciak is also on the watch lists for the Lombardi Award (linemen/linebackers/tight ends) and the Lott Trophy (effectively, quality play combined with character).

A rundown of the ACC players on the Nagurski Award watch list:

DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina
DE Allen Bailey, Miami
DE Da'Quan Bowers, Clemson
LB Bruce Carter, North Carolina
CB Ras-I Dowling, Virginia
CB Brandon Harris, Miami
LB Mark Herzlich, Boston College
DT Jarvis Jenkins, Clemson
LB Luke Kuechly, Boston College
S DeAndre McDaniel, Clemson
DE Robert Quinn, North Carolina
LB Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina
LB Alex Wujciak, Maryland

Also, the watch list for the Outland Trophy (top interior lineman) was posted today. There were no Terps, but Virginia Tech tackle Blake DeChristopher did make the list among other ACC players:

DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina
C Sean Bedford, Georgia Tech
T Anthony Castonzo, Boston College
G Thomas Claiborne, Boston College
T Blake DeChristopher, Virginia Tech
DT Marcus Forston, Miami
T Orlando Franklin, Miami
G Rodney Hudson, Florida State
DT Jarvis Jenkins, Clemson
C Ryan McMahon, Florida State
G Alan Pelc, North Carolina