Two of Maryland’s biggest football commitments are headed elsewhere.
Dwayne Haskins and Keandre Jones have decided to cut ties and commit to Ohio State. The duo were both four-star recruits that had been pledged to the Terrapins for several months.
Since joining Maryland’s 2016 class, Haskins was been viewed by many as a program-changing type of player. He is currently rated as the No. 5 pro style quarterback and the No. 75 player in 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Next to DeMatha Catholic (Md.) offensive lineman Terrance Davis, Haskins was Maryland’s highest rated recruit. Haskins originally committed to the Terps back in May.
Jones was also one of Maryland’s highly regarded commits.
The Good Counsel (Md.) linebacker was the second player to commit in the 2016 class. Jones was supposed to provide stability to a young linebacking group.
Jones is ranked as the ninth-best outside linebacker and the third best player in the state of Maryland. Much like Haskins, Jones was supposed to be one of the glue guys in this class and the best defender.
The departures currently put the Terps at 10 commitments in 2016. Obviously, there’s still two weeks until National Signing Day and there’s several recruits that have yet to announce their intentions.
There’s still time for coach D.J. Durkin to fill out the class, but it will certainly will be an uphill battle. Losing two talents like Haskins and Jones hurts, but the possibility was there during the fall due to the program’s struggles and transition into a new regime.
It’ll be interesting to see where Durkin elects to go in terms of quarterback. It’s been suggested that he could look at JuCo and transfer options like former Florida signal caller Will Grier.
Only time will tell, but these two departures definitely sting at the moment.