COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It has been a week of spring football in College Park and Maryland’s depth is already being tested. But Terps head coach Michael Locksley is making the the most of the talent he has on his roster as he identifies who his playmakers are and puts them in the best position to help their team.
“That’s what we want to use the spring to figure out: who the playmakers are,” Locksley said. “Who are the guys that when you put the ball down and blow the whistle make plays for you?”
Former wide receiver and Virginia Tech transfer Sean Savoy’s switch to cornerback to give the Terps more able bodies in the secondary was one of the first tidbits of information that came out of Maryland’s early spring practices. Now it’s a defensive player that’s the latest to switch sides of the ball to fit an area of need for the Terps.
Junior offensive lineman TJ Bradley injured his knee at practice March 30 and will require surgery that will keep him out for an indefinite amount of time. To fill the void, Locksley turned to redshirt freshman defensive lineman Austin Fontaine, who will give blocking the teammates he used to share a film room with his best effort this spring.
“We moved Austin Fontaine from the D-line to the offensive line because it gives us a little more depth,” Locksley told reporters after practice April 2. “We lost TJ Bradley with a knee injury and he’ll be out the rest of the spring. And Austin is a guy that we’re going to try on the offensive side of the ball as an interior offensive lineman and see how he does the remainder of spring and kind of make decisions from there. That’s what spring is for, an opportunity to try some things out, and moving Austin over provides a little bit more depth for us on the offensive line with losing TJ Bradley to injury.”
Locksley showed no reservations about making the move and putting one of his most promising young defensive linemen on the opposite side of the ball. He cited Fontaine’s track record of playing offensive line while in high school at DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) as proof that the transition could be a flawless one and even said that from a recruiter’s standpoint he saw the 6-foot-4, 335-pounder as a blocker all along.
“Having recruited him out of high school, he was a guy that initially when I first started recruiting him here for Maryland was a guy that we saw as an offensive lineman,” Locksley said. “I know he played both ways. He played (offensive) guard in high school; he played D-line in high school. So we always knew that he had the ability to play both sides of the ball.”
Locksley added that moving Fontaine to the offensive line was not just his decision as the lead man of Maryland’s program. He praised Fontaine’s unselfishness as a teammate and enthusiasm for embarking on a new challenge.
“We would never move a guy to a position that they don’t want to play,” Locksley said. “If I ever move a guy, it’s going to be them wanting to move for the betterment of our team. Austin was very unselfish. Obviously we’re thin on the O-line during spring ball until we get some of the guys that we signed in here. He’s one of the guys up front that has the athletic ability, the ability to bend, that has played the position. We brought him in and talked to him about it after Saturday’s practice and he was gung ho about moving over and giving it a try. And if it works well we’ll keep him there and let him develop as an O-lineman. If it doesn’t look like he’s going to help us or benefit from being on that side of the ball, we’ll move him back over after spring.”
The trenches isn’t the only place where Locksley sees depth that he must sift through to find the best talent and get it on the field.
Skill positions such as running back and wide receiver are deep in College Park, but Locksley isn’t concerned with naming starters or even identifying positions at this point. He is simply trying to see who shows up consistently to make plays.
“What I’ve always worked toward is using my best players as much as I can,” Locksley said. “It’s ironic, I just came from a place where we played three tailbacks and we actually had a fourth who played quite a bit as well. So I feel good about the running back depth we have at that position. I feel good about the talent and the skill set. It’s a really competitive room and they all have some strengths that we have to develop processes and develop plays to make sure we keep all of those guys involved. So I would imagine that we’re going to try to utilize all of those guys because of their skill set and because of their big play ability.”
The Terps have an intriguing young group of wide receivers that includes nine sophomores. With that many wideouts at about the same experience level vying for playing time, it will be those who pick up Locksley’s offensive system and translate production onto the field the quickest that emerge as Maryland’s primary pass catchers going into next season.
“As a whole, the receivers as a unit, we have good size and length there,” Locksley said. “That’s one of the areas that I felt we had good depth going into spring ball. We’re a little log-jammed there, but I’m happy with the way the guys work, I like the skill sets of these guys. I’ll be able to tell you more once we get into some scrimmage situations to see what guys kind of stand out and make plays.”
Scrimmaging will be the next phase of Maryland’s spring football camp and will begin April 6 with some short yardage situational work. Locksley said the full 11-on-11 scrimmaging will start the following Saturday, April 13, and he’s eager to see who shows up and takes advantage of the opportunity.
“I’ve seen quite a few guys make plays,” Locksley said. “I’ve seen guys that have done a good job of picking up a system and their execution of it, but I am really looking forward to getting into some scrimmage situations here in the next week. Put the ball down and let these guys go play and see how they shake out.”
