Maryland Football: Terps could face tough sledding in 2018

Offense

Tyrel Pigrome, Kasim Hill, Ryan Brand and Max Bortenschlager. Those are the four quarterbacks that took snaps for Maryland last season. Caleb Henderson was injured prior to the season, otherwise that number could have been even higher.

Henderson will return to the program, but won’t play next season. That leaves Bortenschlager to duke it out with Hill and Pigrome for the starting job in 2018. Brand, a walk on, doesn’t figure to be in the plans for the starting job this time around, not unless the three men in front of him get injured again.

The wide receiving corps will undergo a reboot as well. Last year’s leading pass catcher D.J. Moore was a first round selection of the Carolina Panthers in the offseason and senior Taivon Jacobs has exhausted his remaining eligibility. Those two alone vacated 127 receptions that will need to be replaced by someone. 4-star receiver Darryl Jones should be in the mix for a big role, but he won’t have much time to get up to speed.

With all that uncertainty the running backs are going to have to step up in a big way for the Terps. Lorenzo Harrison and Ty Johnson, who split carries last season, will figure prominently in the Maryland offensive scheme again this season. They tallied 1,497 yards rushing and eight touchdowns between them a year ago, and could do better if the quarterbacks can force opposing defenses to respect the passing attack.

The key to any of these players succeeding will be new offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who joins Maryland after spending last season at LSU.