Maryland football secured two DMV-area recruits Sunday, bolstering its defense by adding four-star defensive tackle Taizse Johnson and junior college linebacker Gereme Spraggins to the 2021 recruiting class.
In addition, with 2020 signing day next week, coach Mike Locksley secured three-star offensive lineman Amelio Moran on Monday, a JUCO addition who could factor into the Terps’ blocking arrangements in 2020.
Johnson — a 6-foot-1, 290-pound defensive tackle — had offers from top-tier college programs including LSU, Ohio State and Alabama. The Washington, D.C., native is slated to play in next year’s Under Armour All-America Game. Johnson attended St. John’s College High School, where he played with newly signed five-star recruit Rakim Jarrett.
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Johnson announced his commitment on Twitter with the caption, “why not slide the crib? #TBIA”. That hashtag, short for “the best is ahead,” has been used by Locksley and Jarrett.
Sunday’s second commit also appeared to be inspired by this movement. After playing for Arundel High School, Spraggins took the JUCO route and played at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. During his freshman season, Spraggins recorded 70 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
He received offers from South Carolina, Texas Tech and Tennessee, among other schools. Spraggins will join a former Hutchinson teammate — Jakorian Bennett, a three-star cornerback who signed last month in the 2020 class — in College Park.
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Maryland now has five commits from the 2021 class, all of whom are from the D.C. area.
Moran, a 6-foot-5, 308-pound offensive tackle from Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pennsylvania, chose the Terps over offers from East Carolina, Florida International and Alabama State, among others.
Maryland lost Ellis McKennie and Sean Christie along the offensive line, and Terrance Davis entered the transfer portal in late December and will head to Wake Forest, 247Sports reported.
That leaves an inexperienced protection corps in front of quarterbacks Josh Jackson, Lance LeGendre and Tyrrell Pigrome. Moran is set to join five other offensive line recruits who’ve already signed.
