Fullback Taylor Watson will not return to the Maryland football team next season, coach Randy Edsall said Monday.
“Taylor Watson told me he’s going to graduate this summer, so he won’t be with us,” Edsall said. “We’re going to make sure that happens and he’ll get his degree.”
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Watson played in 28 games and started four times for the Terrapins. He owns 10 career carries for 60 yards and four receptions for 29 yards.
Watson appeared in 11 games last season after recovering from a torn ACL suffered in March. He started in victories against Boston College, Wake Forest and East Carolina.
His departure informally gets Maryland down to 82 scholarship players for next season, the number it needs to hit after the NCAA took three scholarships away as a penalty for falling below the Academic Progress Rate cut score. The Terps have 10 scholarship seniors.
Watson’s departure actually doesn’t do much to clarify Maryland’s situation at fullback. Fifth-year senior Haroon Brown and redshirt freshman Rahsaan Moore are the obvious candidates, but Edsall said last week it might be a position where no answer emerges until summer camp.
“Right now, I’m not sure who our starter there is,” Edsall said. “I’m not sure we’ll know that by the end of these next five practices. I’m looking for one of these fullbacks to step up and say —- not by talking but by performing —- ‘This is my job. I’m that guy.’”
—- Patrick Stevens
