September 22, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Randy Edsall gestures on the sidelines against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the fourth quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. The West Virginia Mountaineers won 31-21. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Last week 247 Sports updated their rankings for the 2014 football recruiting class. As there were some risers, the majority of the notable Terp targets dropped in the rankings.
Here is the breakdown for the top Terp targets (previous ranking in parenthesis):
Damian Prince: 17 (16)
Jalen Tabor: 43(28)
Jesse Aniebonam: 102 (105)
Demetrius Johnson: 300
Chris Jones: 382
Melvin Keihn: 420
Brock Ruble: 620
Marcel Joly: 739
Kevin Wilkins: 749
JaWhaun Bentley: 860
Jake Whitely: Not ranked
Damian Prince
Prince is a very talented offensive tackle that has great size, and alongside Maryland’s top young lineman in Derwin Gray (hopefully) and Mike Madaras, will really solidify the offensive line and create a lot of options for the running and passing game. Although he did drop a spot, don’t read too much into this. Scouts rave over Prince’s strength and technique, and if Maryland can get him, he would be one of Maryland’s top key recruits. Teams to beat are currently Ohio State and Florida State.
Jalen Tabor
I’m very surprised by Tabor’s drop. Tabor will impact the game and give Maryland as great of a playmaker on defense as Diggs is on offense. In a recent interview at The Opening, Tabor stated he loved Maryland’s strong connection with Under Armour and his father-like relationship with Locksley as reasons he is strongly considering Maryland, who are in his top two along with Florida.
He’s my favorite recruit since Diggs and we will be hearing his name early in the NFL Draft in a couple of years. Team to beat is Florida, but Alabama and Vanderbilt are slightly trailing. Tabor visited Vanderbilt on July 14 and tweeted “this trip really opened my eyes.” That being said, I’m standing by my firm prediction that Maryland will land him. Momentum is building, and in my opinion, he’s the top corner in the nation.
Jesse Aniebonam
A defensive end from local powerhouse Good Counsel, Aniebonam is a speedy guy that can get to the quarterback by blowing past his defenders. Per 247, some analysts see Alabama landing the stud recruit, but I think he’s Maryland’s to lose. With the defensive end position stacked now, Aniebonam has the opportunity to compete for serious playing time straight away and securing a starting position down the line in his career. That, along with the strong Good Counsel connection with Wes Brown, Diggs, Madaras and Dancel, makes me believe this is a recruit that will commit and could start the domino effect with other recruits following his decision. Team to beat is Alabama, and although that sounds intimidating, I predict the Terps to land him. Last visit I’d seen was for Maryland’s spring game.
Other targets that were not in the top 250 include: Demetrius Johnson, Chris Jones, Melvin Keihn, Brock Ruble, Marcel Joly, Kevin Wilkins, JaWhaun Bentley, and Jake Whitley. I’m predicting the Terps land all players except for Keihn, who is a toss-up between UVA and Maryland.