The numbers — 63 representatives from 31 NFL teams, 14 Maryland players working out, seven of whom had been to the NFL scouting combine — spoke loudly.
Maryland football’s on-campus pro day Wednesday offered Terps such as cornerback Jakorian Bennett and offensive tackle Jaelyn Duncan a chance to amplify their resumes with a month to go before the NFL draft. It also gave the program a stage to showcase its progress in developing pro prospects under coach Mike Locksley.
“Last year, we had like two guys at the combine, but this year, we had a good handful,” Bennett said after zipping fluidly through drills with scouts from the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans. “You have to look at the development side. Everybody gets caught up with the facilities and all that stuff. And we have good facilities, but the coaches do a good job of developing players and helping guys develop in life.”
Locksley, who’s going into his fifth year as Maryland’s coach, said this is an appropriate time to celebrate that track record, not to mention capture the attention of younger stars who might come next.
“I think it speaks to what the Maryland football brand has become,” he said after watching his aspiring pros work out. “This is the foundation of Maryland football, this group here. Finishing up Year 4, really, it’s the first class of guys that have come through our program for the duration of my time here. … To me, this is the foundation group to what hopefully will be us being able to compete for championships here in the near future.”
Maryland has not had more than five players selected in a year since the draft went to seven rounds in 1997 but has a good chance to surpass that total next month.
“It’s a good one, really good,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper said of the Terps’ draft class. “Best it has been in recent years.”
Kiper expects cornerback Deonte Banks, who wowed scouts and team executives earlier this month at the combine, to be a first-round pick, with Duncan and Bennett following him in the second or third rounds and wide receivers Rakim Jarrett, Dontay Demus Jr. and Jacob Copeland all likely to be picked at some point. Kicker Chad Ryland was the other Terp invited to the combine.
Other members of Maryland’s 2022 team who worked out on the indoor field at Jones-Hill House were offensive linemen Spencer Anderson and Johari Branch, defensive linemen Henry Chibueze, Greg China-Rose and Ami Finau, and linebackers VanDarius Cowan and Durell Nchami.
The pro day was a final chance for these players to gather on the same practice field where they had grown and toiled under Locksley’s guidance. Though they will soon disperse to various corners of the NFL, they’re optimistic other robust classes will follow in their footsteps.
“He’s building a way better program that what it was,” Banks said. “It’s going in the right direction.”
The 6-foot, 197-pound Banks was one of the stars of the combine with his 4.35-second time in the 40-yard dash and his 42-inch vertical leap, so he felt no need to sprint or jump for scouts Wednesday.
“I’m a lockdown corner; that’s really what it is,” he told reporters, brimming with confidence.
The Ravens need a cornerback, and Banks’ speed and aggressive style could make him a fit for his hometown team at No. 22 overall. The former Edgewood High star grinned when asked about that possibility.
“It could be,” he said. “Maybe.”
The 6-6, 306-pound Duncan (St. Frances) could be the next Terp off the board. “He is a talented kid, a local kid, who tested well,” Kiper said. “When playing well, when at the top of his game, he’s as good as any left tackle. Some team is going to take him in the second round.”
Bennett could join Duncan as a Day 2 pick after he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds at the combine.
Of the three Maryland wide receivers who could be drafted, Kiper sees the highest upside in Jarrett, who “could be a third-round steal for somebody.” The Prince George’s County native said he has spoken with former Maryland star Stefon Diggs about life in the NFL.
“I’m doing it for the guys before me and to show the guys after me it can be done,” Jarrett said, noting that he has prepared by practicing against two future NFL cornerbacks in Banks and Bennett.
The 6-3, 212-pound Demus felt he showed off “the grit and everything inside of me,” working out for NFL scouts 18 months after a terrible knee injury temporarily derailed his career.
One unexpected participant Wednesday was former Ravens tight end Nick Boyle, who served as Ryland’s long snapper. They share an agent, and Boyle said he wanted the focus to be on the kicker, but he was also auditioning for a potential new role with NFL teams.
“Maybe I could do this for a couple years if I do well,” the 30-year-old free agent said. “My knee takes a lot of maintenance for me to play tight end, and I hate going out there and being average. If I can’t play as dominating as I was before, that’s why I transition to long snapper. The whole idea of this is to be around the game, be with players, keep the relationships alive.”
Boyle was set to step in as the Ravens’ long snapper in the 2022 regular-season finale if Nick Moore was home for the birth of his child, but Moore ultimately traveled to Cincinnati. Boyle, meanwhile, came out of that experience thinking a new career path might be in order. He has followed up by working out with Ryland, a second-team All-Big Ten kicker who aspires to join him in the NFL, in recent weeks.
“He was like, ‘I haven’t snapped in a long time,’” Ryland said. “But after three or four snaps, he was firing dots. I think he could do it.”
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