Profiles In Terpage – A Countdown To The Football Season: Devonte Campbell
By petevolk
A recurring series where we will profile every player and coach on Maryland’s roster, counting down to kick-off against Miami. Thanks to OBNUG for the idea.
Today we profile a former high-profile recruit who has played a sort of H-Back role with the Terps so far.
Devonte Campbell, Junior (RS), Tight End
Stats:
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 255
Ratings: Four stars, #5 in Maryland, #15 tight end by Rivals; three stars, #34 tight end by Scout; four stars, #12 tight end by ESPN
40-yard dash time: 4.5
High School Stats (Senior Year): 31 receptions for 1,145 yards and 13 TDs, 72 tackles, four sacks, and three interceptions
High School Stats (Junior Year): 20 receptions for 768 yards with 10 touchdowns, 62 tackles, seven sacks
College Stats (through two seasons): Six receptions for 28 yards, two rushes for one yard
High School: Forestville Military Academy (Forestville, Md.)
How’d He Get To College Park?
Devonte Campbell was one of the bigger recruiting coups in the Ralph Friedgen era, and also one of the bigger flops (so far). A big time recruit coming out of high school, Friedgen and co. beat out three of the best recruiters in the country in Mike Locksley and Illinois, Greg Gattuso and Pittsburgh, and Larry Johnson of Penn State to land the tight end from Forestville. Campbell, who started at tight end and linebacker during his last two years of high school, was first team All-Met and was named a SuperPrep All-American after his senior year, and also averaged 22 points per game on the basketball team.
After Forestville, Campbell spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy, presumably due to academic issues. He had a fairly good year there, but there were questions raised about his size, and we honestly don’t have access to that many statistics at the military academies. Campbell recommitted to College Park after his year there, and headed to Maryland.
After enrolling early and redshirting his first year, Campbell played in ten games during his freshman season, including four straight starts at the end of the year. Last year, he suffered a knee injury that limited his involvement, and only played in five games with one catch.
More after the jump.
Nickname:
Devonte “Dark Man” Campbell. That’s what he told Matt Bracken, I swear.
Career Highlight:
Starting the last four games of his freshman year.
Career Lowlight:
Literally everything else about his Maryland career.
Arbitrary Top Five List:
Recruits in the state of Maryland in the 2007 class, according to Rivals:
1. Joe Haden – Florida
2. Donald Langley – Tennessee
3. Terence Kearns – West Virginia
4. Pat Lazear – West Virginia
5. Devonte Campbell – Maryland
Dream Season:
Campbell holds on to the second tight end slot, proving to be a viable option for Danny O’Brien.
Nightmare season:
Dave Stinebaugh takes Campbell’s spot as the second tight end, limiting Campbell’s playing time.
2011 Prospectus:
Devonte Campbell is currently the second tight end on Maryland’s depth chart, behind Matt Furstenburg. He’s ahead of Ryan Schlothauer and Dave Stinebaugh, currently recovering from injury. He has realistically no chance of catching Furstenburg, barring injury, and honestly very little chance of holding off Stinebaugh when he comes back.
While Campbell undeniably had more hype than Stinebaugh coming out of high school (with Furstenburg it’s close), Stinebaugh has been much more productive and impressive in his Maryland career. That will be the main competition at the tight end spot, with Furstenburg firmly planted as the number one guy and Schlothauer looking like the odd man out (but, as we mentioned yesterday, he also has a chance).
Campbell’s specialty comes in his pass-catching ability, and he’s extremely quick for a tight end. His problems lie in the blocking game, as he’s always struggled with ACC-level size.
There is another option for him, however. He has played some fullback in his Maryland career, and many have seen him as an H-Back type player. With redshirt freshman Rahsaan Moore and true freshman Tyler Cierski as the only two legitimate options at fullback, we could end up seeing Campbell getting significant playing time in the backfield as well.
Up Next:
Our next player kicked the game-winning field goal in his first varsity high school game.