State of position: Maryland and defensive ends

In the third part of a weeklong series, we look at states that have had surprising success in the Rivals era dating back to 2002 at a certain position. We continue with an in-depth look at Maryland and just how many elite defensive ends it has produced during that stretch.

MORE STATES: Alabama and wide receivers | South Carolina and defensive ends

It’s not just crab cakes when talking about the state of Maryland. It’s became a place that has developed a striking number of high-end football prospects and defensive ends have been coming out of that state at a surprising clip.

In the Rivals era, there have been six five-star defensive ends from Maryland with three of them - Ohio State’s Chase Young in 2017, Alabama’s Eyabi Anoma in 2018 and uncommitted Bryan Bresee in 2020 - being the most recent top-flight talent. In 2003, Notre Dame landed Victor Abiamiri, in 2004 Derrick Harvey went to Florida and in 2005 Melvin Alaeze stayed home and signed with Maryland. And if you include Josh Kaindoh, who spent his final season at IMG Academy in Florida, the number is even more impressive. Kaindoh committed to Maryland originally but flipped to Florida State.

There has been an impressive haul of five-star defensive end from Maryland and it does not stop there.

Seventeen four-stars at that position have emerged out of that state including some big-timers like first-round NFL Draft pick Aaron Maybin, who went to Penn State before going No. 11 in the 2009 draft and Shawne Merriman, also a first-round pick who is a three-time Pro Bowler. This recruiting cycle, Jadeveon Clowney’s cousin, Demon, is a four-star defensive end from Baltimore St. Frances who’s already committed to LSU.

There has been a narrative that Penn State has poached loads of Maryland’s best talent over the years and that could be the case at certain positions, but defensive end isn’t one of them. Out of the 17 four-star defensive ends only two went to play for the Nittany Lions; seven headed to compete for the Terrapins.

Geographically, Maryland is also a talent powerhouse. The state of Virginia has about 2.5 million more people yet it has had the same number of five-star defensive ends (five) as Maryland and only three more four-star DEs excluding the Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy and Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy players.

Pennsylvania has more than double the population of Maryland but has produced only one five-star defensive end (Noah Spence in 2012) and has had just eight four-stars at the position. New Jersey has nearly three million more people but boasts just one five-star DE in Darius Hamilton and also has 17 four-stars.

This has been a state and area (DC included) that saw a spike in talent in the early to mid 2000s and has been consistent ever since. Maryland used to be known as a basketball state, but more and more athletic prospects started playing football at a young age and the grassroots movement in football has been amazing. It doesn’t surprise me a bit that Maryland has had so many highly ranked defensive ends because ends are usually tall, athletic kids who can play multiple sports and especially basketball.

And as guys like Young have success in college, more and more younger prospects in the area will take a longer look at football when considering what sport they want to focus on. The Terps haven’t been able to capitalize that much at all since Alaeze was the only five-star to choose Maryland and he ended up at prep school, then Illinois and then flaming out, so it’s become a haven for out-of-state schools. Keep an eye on this area for defensive ends and we’ll see if Maryland head coach Mike Locksley can keep some of them home moving forward.