Maryland Football: Former Terps shine in Week 3 of NFL season

The Maryland football program has several talented players in the NFL ranks these days.

Several former Terrapins were on display on Sunday and had quite a bit of success.

Former coach Ralph Friedgen had a knack for putting players in the NFL. During his tenure, 25 Terps were selected in the NFL Draft with three of those being first round picks.

Vernon Davis (No. 6 overall), Darrius Heyward-Bey (No. 7), and Shawne Merriman (No. 12) were the three highest drafted players of the Friedgen era.

Ironically, Davis was one of the players that excelled on Sunday. Without further ado, let’s dive into what former Terps saw success.

Stefon Diggs

Minnesota’s situation looked bleak entering Week 3 to say the least.

Quarterback Sam Bradford had been ruled out in the days leading up to the game. His backup, Case Keenum, only connected with former Maryland wideout Stefon Diggs twice in last week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

How did Diggs respond on Sunday?

He just caught eight passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Diggs scored a pair of first half touchdowns from 59 and 17 respectively to help Minnesota jump out to a 21-3 halftime advantage.

On his second touchdown of the day, Keenum rolled out and found Diggs near the sideline. The former Maryland star was able to escape the grasp of a Tampa defender and race his way to the end zone to give the Vikings a 21-3 lead with just 47 seconds left in the opening half.

Diggs’ first touchdown was a lot shorter but may have been more impressive. Keenum lofted a pass that Diggs leaped for in the corner of the end zone and hauled it in over cornerback Vernon Hargreaves.

After three games, the former Good Counsel (Md.) star has 17 receptions for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Diggs caught seven passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-19 win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 1.

Vernon Davis

After Vernon Davis won a Super Bowl ring with the Denver Broncos, it was assumed that his NFL career was going to end.

Instead, Davis has been very productive since joining his hometown Washington Redskins in the 2016 offseason.

In the Redskins’ 27-10 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday night, Davis caught five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. Davis drew the start in the place of Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Reed, who missed the game due to chest and toe injuries.

With 3:48 left in the second half, Davis caught a 19-yard touchdown as he beat cornerback Sean Smith. The former Terp had the third most targets on the team with five.

Davis only had one catch for 13 yards entering Sunday’s game. He takes a backseat to Reed, but still usually manages to make an impact.

Davis had 44 receptions for 583 yards and two touchdowns with Washington in 2016.

Torrey Smith

If you look at the box score, you wouldn’t think that Torrey Smith was very productive on Sunday.

However, in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 27-24 win against the New York Giants, Smith was one of the deciding factors. The former Terp only caught four passes for 29 yards on the afternoon.

The Eagles found themselves trailing the Giants 21-14 in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Carson Wentz targeted Smith quite a bit throughout the game and especially in the final quarter.

With 5:53 left in the game, Wentz lofted a pass down the sideline for Smith, but he was interferred with by cornerback Eli Apple. A flag was thrown on the play for defensive pass interference, which set up Philadephia at the New York 15-yard line.

On the ensuing play, former Wisconsin star Corey Clement ran the ball in for a 15-yard touchdown.

Philadelphia kicker Jake Elliott connected on a 61-yard field goal as time expired to win the game for the Eagles. If it weren’t for Smith’s key drawing of a penalty, the Eagles may never have been in that situation.

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Smith uses his speed to keep opposing defensive backs on their toes. While he only has nine receptions for 125 yards on the young season, the former Terp will likely have quite a few big plays for Philadelphia in 2017.