You know,
when you start looking at our roster and this is what really has me
more excited than anything.
Three things are really clear. One, we have talent.
Two, we're building great depth, but we have a ton of experience
in terms of guys returning that have started.
We got the nucleus of what it takes for us to take a bigger step.
This year
Rakim
this wide receiver crew has a chance to be really special.
I mean, this is almost a pick your poison type of group.
I mean, you can pick one to stop, but the other three are going to be there.
When you look forward to seeing some of our guys
that were injured last year back at practice and healthy to me,
we lost quite a few of our playmakers through the course of last season.
Maryland kickoff Dontay Demus standing at the goal line.
We'll kick it off.
Demus had a good return last time.
He's going to return this one as well.
But that's a high cost to play. Boy, oh, boy. Oh, man.
What a shame.
He's still saying it to his teammates.
I'm coming back.
Taulia throws the screen to the right side.
Just complete to Jeshaun Jones across the 38 hit
up to the 34 yard line that is Jeshaun Jones.
And he's not getting up.
It's been good.
You learn a lot about yourself
and forces you to dig deep, reassures your why of why you're doing this
and what you're doing it for, the love of the game.
To get back.
My initial thoughts was just really, how can I get back out there
to help my brothers whether it be on the field
or off the field. You just know, being locked in, doing my best
to be
able to have guys like Jeshaun Jones back and Dontay Demus back and Deonte Banks,
a lot of really talented players that we missed last year.
I know he's kind of been the heartbeat of our team and an emotional leader,
so having him back is been just great for our program and great for our offense.
It's been a while, man.
Almost a year without playing ball, man.
It's a long, long journey.
But the fun process and I'm back out here for the guys.
We're excited, you know, talking to the trainers
downstairs to hear that he's ahead of schedule
and that the expectation is that he'll play in the first game.
I'm excited to have seven back.
I can't wait to play September 3rd, man
It's a blessing.
All right. Here we go. Freak time. Show time.
All right. So schedule of schedule wise.
So it's important you know where you're going if you don't know it.
One through seven. Okay.
We'll be working into the tower today.
So we'll go from the defensive field into the offensive field.
We got room over there.
If we're not running into the quarterback. We got Jeshaun Jones.
As I mentioned, coming back from injury,
Oh man. Love to be back in these pads man.
Dontay Demus
Got that thing back on me. You better know something. You got a really good transfer.
You get Copeland
Give us a sense of what this group could be.
And all of them have their own unique skill set, like other shifty,
fast physical type receiver
or you got your Dontay Demus's, six three
big physical you know so you're getting a look at everything.
It's great, honestly, because if you're going against the best
receiver corps in the country, that's only gonna make you better.
Those are a lot of good, talented players.
And Taulia, his job now is pretty easy to get
those guys the ball in advantageous spots and let those guys make plays.
I don't think there's
a more underrated player in the country
than Talia Tagovailoa, and I'll continue to see it.
You talk about top quarterbacks in the country and his name doesn't come up.
Tagovailoa is very, very talented.
Got it. In the five.
That's all for the touchdown.
Maryland gets his man in stride for 15.
Plays ball for the touchdown.
There's no doubt about it. He is a talented quarterback.
He can make all the throws.
He has an element with his legs.
He has a tremendous understanding of what we do.
The biggest next step for Taulia is to continue to emotionally mature.
I learn a lot.
I always talk to my brother about anything that's, you know,
heavy on my heart, as well as my parents.
My mom and dad, they try to help me with how I should handle things
and how they feel is right.
I listen and try to put those things into action.
I think the biggest thing is having our whole O-line back.
O-line is way more important than anything in practice so far.
I mean, they
have any sense of urgency and I feel like that comes at confidence
because they feel confident that, you know, we can do big things on the field.
That position group is going to play a major role
in the outcome of what our season looks like.
Johari Branch has played guard and center, so he's created a lot of versatility
with that group.
A guy like Spencer Anderson can play across the board
from right tackle to left tackle to center to guard.
When are you going to ever turn around?
and point at me and say run this [explitive] right here man.
Stop [explitive] with that A-gap [explitive] run that [explitive] behind me.
and then on defense, the our front seven is battle tested.
We got fifth year, sixth year of guys that are playing.
We've got a lot of guys with a lot of starts.
Jakorian Bennett was out, Deonte Banks was out, but obviously Tarheeb he played injured
most of last season.
Corey Coley, who played in that game
as a true freshman against the best receiving corps in the league.
Those experience will make Corey better bringing Ami back.
See now back for a COVID year, that six year, now
you're going to have another weapon or talented player
that has more experience of playing in the Big Ten.
It will be about stopping the run and being able to to limit the big plays.
And I feel really good about the staff.
I feel really good about the talent on that side of the ball.
You know, every time we're in the shell,
it's going
to be lit.