Image from the Post.

All Hail Locksley.

After getting a commitment from four-star running back Wes Brown at the Under Armour All-American game, the “keep local talent local” movement is continuing, as Maryland picked up a commitment from three/four-star running back/athlete Albert Reid, from Friendship Collegiate Academy in DC.

Reid, who stands at 5’11″ and 195 pounds, was previously a West Virginia commit who only recently decommitted and was not considering the Terps at all – until they hired new offensive coordinator Mike Locksley. Now, Maryland has added one of the best athletes in the DC area, and he will either provide a speed back to Brown’s power game or additional depth at cornerback.

Reid is rated as a three-star athlete by Rivals, and the third best player in the District. Scout rates him as a four-star running back (the 25th-best back in the country), and ESPN ranks him as a four-star athlete.

Just like Wes Brown’s commitment was important with Maryland’s status of a five-star teammate (Stefon Diggs), Reid has a superstar teammate of his own – defensive tackle Eddie Goldman (and 2014 stud Jalen Tabor, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). Goldman is the second-best player in the country according to Rivals, and the Terps’ stock with him reportedly continues to rise. He would be a program-changing get (as would Diggs), and getting commitments from teammates can only help.

Let’s look at some tape of Reid after the jump:

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Image from Maxpreps.

By now we’ve all had a night to digest yesterday’s Under Armour All-American Game, where Good Counsel four-star running back Wes Brown committed to Maryland. It’s a huge get for the Terps, not only because of Brown specifically, but because of the domino effect that might ensue.

Here’s video of his commitment, where he says something about being naive enough to be smart enough, and then makes his choice:

Brown in himself is a great player – Scout has him as the ninth-best running back in the country, Rivals puts him at #17 – so let’s focus on that for a little bit.

Standing at about 6’1″ and 200 pounds, he’s a very big back. He’s a strong runner, but probably most impressive is how quick his first step is. Brown doesn’t have outstanding top speed (he runs a 4.5 40), but he gets to that top gear very quickly and burst through the line with ease.

Here’s his tape, after the jump:

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Image from Rivals.

Former Marshall commit Levern Jacobs became the 22nd member of Maryland’s 2012 recruiting class today, as the Suitland/Milford wide receiver changed his pledge to the Terps.

Jacobs, who stands at 5’11″ and 175 pounds, is the third wide receiver in the class for Maryland, joining Malcolm Culmer and Amba Etta-Tawo. He was a two-star recruit coming out of Suitland last year, but improved his stock this past year playing at the Millford Mill Academy, a prep school (Maryland recruitniks will recognize it as the former school of Tyrek Cheeseboro).

The speedster now gets three stars from Rivals, Scout and ESPN, but perhaps even more importantly, he has a younger brother who is a big-time prospect. Taivon Jacobs is a 2013 wide receiver who runs a 4.4 40, and currently lists offers from Maryland and North Carolina.

Either way, it’s a good get for a Maryland team that desperately needs help at wide receiver. Here’s some tape after the jump, he’s the one constantly outrunning everyone else on the field:

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Image from Scout.

Maryland’s recruiting momentum continues, as the Terps picked up a commitment from North Florida Christian (Tallahassee, Fla.) linebacker Dallas Griffiths today.

Griffiths, listed at 6’2″ and 225 pounds, is rated a three-star inside linebacker by Rivals and ESPN, and is given two stars by Scout and 247. He held offers from Georgia Tech, South Florida, Southern Miss and UCF, among others, and was reportedly down to Maryland, Liberty and UCF before making his decision.

Griffiths is the fifth linebacker in Maryland’s 2012 class, joining Brock Dean, Avery Thompson, Stefan Houston, and Abner Logan (who committed just recently as well).

The Terps are now at 21 for the class, one that could grow to as large as 30 (thanks to the openings resulting from departures from the program).

Here’s Griffiths’ junior highlight tape, he is number 22:

Like Logan, Griffiths looks very fast, and has a good sense for the ball. Beyond that, it’s hard to tell (some kind of indicator saying who we’re supposed to be looking at would be nice), but we’ll never complain about additions to Maryland’s defensive depth.

Image from Rivals.

Top local 2012 football recruit Stefon Diggs, a five-star wide receiver from Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), recently cut his list down to eleven schools. Maryland made the cut, but the receiver apparently isn’t as high on the Terps as he used to be.

A top-ten prospect in the country, Diggs is now considering Auburn, California, Florida, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, South Carolina, USC, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. That’s quite the list, with Cal, UVA and the Terps sticking out like sore thumbs.

However, as Rivals’ Mike Farrell tweets, Diggs says he was higher on Maryland before they got killed by Temple at home. Honestly, who wasn’t? The main point isn’t that Diggs is lower on Maryland than he used to be – that was to be expected. The most troubling part is that he was willing to admit this to a member of the media, which signifies the Terps may be out of the hunt sooner rather than later.

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Image from Rivals.

Just a few days after losing their verbal commitment from A.J. Liddell, Maryland has picked up another player for their 2012 football class – Clarksburg outside linebacker Stefan Houston.

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Image from Scout.

One of Maryland’s three 2012 wide receiver commitments has parted ways with the program. Chapel Hill (Douglasville, Ga.) wideout A.J. Liddell has decommitted from the Terps, according to IMS.

Liddell recently picked up offers from Connecticut and Vanderbilt, and has received interest from Georgia. Malcolm Culmer and Amba Etta-Tawo remain as wideout commitments in the 2012 class for Maryland.

Liddell,  who stands at 6’2″ and 185 pounds, is unranked by all the recruiting services except for Scout (two stars). He holds several Chapel Hill records – receptions in a season (41), longest kick return (99 yards), longest pass (80), punt return yards in a game (64), punt average in a game (49.3), and punt average in a season/career (39.4).

He was one of four commits from the state of Georgia in the recruiting class, joining Nick Brigham, Alvin Hill and Etta-Tawo.

We’ll keep you updated on all things involving Maryland recruiting.

Randy Edsall’s staff at Maryland has picked up their 16th commitment of the 2012 class, as Maret School (Washington, DC) defensive back Sean Davis pledged to the Terrapins Tuesday, according to WaPo.

Davis, who stands at 6’1″ and weighs 175 pounds, plays safety, running back, and wide receiver at the small private school in DC, but probably will play cornerback as a Terp. He is rated a three prospect by Rivals, and the fourth best player in the District.

As a junior, he had 45 rushes for 492 yards and six touchdowns, and also caught 24 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns. He chose Maryland over offers from Boston College, Connecticut and Marshall.

Let’s look at the tape, after the jump.

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The 2011 football season is still more than a month away, yet the Maryland Terrapins have only ten slots left in their 2012 recruiting class. The Terps received a pledge from Grassfield (Chesapeake, Va.) outside linebacker Avery Thompson today.

Thompson joins Shawn Petty and Brock Dean as linebackers in the class, and is (surprise!) Maryland’s first 2012 commitment from the state of Virginia. Rated as a two-star prospect by Rivals, he does not have a Scout profile as of yet and is unrated by ESPN.

As far as we can tell, Maryland was his only offer, pushing him further into the sleeper category that seems to describe nearly all of the Terps’ 2012 class. His rivals page shows interest from Penn State, UCLA, and Virginia Tech, among others.

Standing at 6’2″ and weighing 195 pounds with 4.6 speed, Thompson might be a candidate for the STAR position or just pure safety. For now, he’s listed as an outside linebacker. Last season, he recorded 113 tackles and two sacks en route to a second-team All-District selection.

After the jump, let’s look at some tape.

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Maryland’s recruiting effort for the 2012 class has been a can’t-stop-won’t-stop-must-match-James-Franklin-at-Vandy-frenzy. That continued today, as they picked up yet another wide receiver, McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) rising senior Amba Etta-Tawo.

Etta-Tawo, ranked three stars by ESPN (#110 wide receiver) and two stars by Scout, stands at 6’3″ and 175 pounds, and reportedly runs a 4.4 40-yard dash. He runs track in high school and is Maryland’s fourth commitment in the 2012 class from Georgia (joining Nick Brigham, Alvin Hill and A.J. Liddell).

More after the jump.

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