Ready For The Next Level

In recent years, Maryland football has been successful in developing NFL talent. Since 2019 — head coach Michael Locksley’s first season as head coach — the Terps have had 16 players hear their name called on draft night. 

Of the 16 players drafted, seven have been selected in the last two drafts, and eight have gone in the first four rounds. Furthermore, since 2018, Maryland has had three first-round NFL Draft selections - wide receiver DJ Moore and defensive backs Darnell Savage and Deonte Banks. 

The 2025 NFL Draft takes place April 24-26. The three-day event provides a chance for Maryland to add to its recent success of sending players to the professional ranks and make dreams of playing in the NFL come true. Locksley described the latter as the most rewarding part of being a head coach. 

“It’s rewarding any chance I have to see guys reach their goals,” he said at Maryland’s 2025 pro day on March 28. “A lot of these guys, I sat in their living room, and I sold them the vision of what this program could and would do for them.”

At Maryland’s 2025 pro day, 12 Terps from last year's team showed out in front of 66 NFL representatives. There were 11 coaches and 55 scouts representing 31 different NFL teams at Jones-Hill House to check out the Maryland standouts.  

Five of Maryland’s participants are listed on Pro Football Focus’ Big Board 2025, including Jordan Phillips (No. 86), Tai Felton (No. 139), Kaden Prather (No. 198), Dante Trader Jr. (No. 268) and Tommy Akingbesote (No. 336). All five were invited to this year’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. 

The collective group seeks to live out lifelong dreams of being drafted and playing in the NFL. However, for those who go undrafted, there is still the chance to achieve their dreams as undrafted free agents. The most recent example of the latter is Beau Brade, who signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a UDFA in 2024 before later making the team’s 53-man roster.   

Felton, an All-American wide receiver, is projected by many draft experts to be chosen anywhere from the second to the fifth round. The Terps have had several players at his position make NFL rosters and practice squads in recent years, including Dontay Demus Jr., Rakim Jarrett and Jeshaun Jones. 

However, wherever Felton is drafted, he looks to be the first wide receiver from Maryland selected since Moore in 2018. 

“Honestly, it’s just a blessing,” Felton said of the opportunity. “My dad had me watching the Senior Bowl [and] the [NFL] Combine when I was like four or five years old. I'm living in the moment, just trying to soak it all in. I know when I get up there, it’s all about the work ethic and stuff of that nature. I'm ready to grind, ready to get to whatever city I'm going to, ready to put in the work and contribute to the team.”

Maryland has had a player drafted in eight straight and 29 of the last 31 NFL Drafts. The feat includes at least two players selected in nine of the past 10 years. Phillips, a defensive tackle, is regarded by many draft experts as Maryland’s top selection. He and Felton have a chance to extend the latter streak.  

Phillips is in line to be the first defensive tackle drafted out of Maryland since Byron Cowart in 2019. 

“It would mean the world,” Phillips said of the opportunity to be the next great Terp in the NFL. “I work towards that every day. Obviously, it's not going to happen overnight. Obviously, it's going to take time. With time comes consistency, and you have to be consistent in order to get what you want out of anything in life. That's what I plan on doing, is being consistent.”

In 2023, the Terps had five players selected, including Banks, Jakorian Bennett, Chad Ryland, Jaelyn Duncan and Spencer Anderson. It was Maryland’s most draft picks since 2009, when five players were selected. Although they also had five players drafted in 2004 and 1988, the most recent year in which the Terps had more than five NFL Draft picks was 1986 (six).   

Trader played alongside Banks and Bennett in the defensive secondary from 2021-22. He also played with Tarheeb Still from 2021-23 and Nick Cross in 2021, two other former Terp defensive backs who were drafted. Furthermore, Trader even played with two other defensive backs who signed with NFL teams as free agents — Brade and Jordan Mosley. 

Playing alongside NFL talent his entire career, Trader hopes to be the next great defensive back out of College Park. He explained the versatility he brings as a prospect.

“I love being on the field,” Trader said. “Whatever I am asked to do, whatever is the best position for me to play. If that's the half, the middle of the field, the box, nickel, special teams, whatever, I'm willing to do any and everything for the team, which my tape shows.”

In addition to the many NFL Draft picks under Locksley as head coach at Maryland, he recruited and coached many other NFL players as an assistant at Maryland from 1997-2002 and again in 2012-15, and at Alabama from 2016-18. Some of those players include Stefon Diggs, Evan Neal, Jaylen Waddle, Christian Barmore, John Metchie, Yannick Ngakoue, Jerome Ford and Jermaine Carter Jr.

Diggs, Ngakoue and Carter are three Locksley recruits to Maryland before observing each live out their dreams later. Diggs made four Pro Bowls and was named an All-Pro twice in the NFL as one of the league’s best wide receivers. 

“You can come to Maryland,” Locksley said. “We've had three first-round draft picks since 2018. We've had 16 players drafted in my tenure here. We sent five guys to the combine this year. For the last four to five years, I've been telling people we're a developmental program. … We're no longer a developmental program. We’re a program that understands it's about right now.”