Stefon Diggs: What Landing Prized Recruit Means for Maryland Terps Football

No program in the country is bringing in a group that will change the program as much as the Maryland Terrapins. That was punctuated on Friday with the signing of 5-star receiving stud Stefon Diggs. 

The significant thing about Diggs going to Maryland isn't so much that he is No. 8 on the Rivals 100 list. No, by simply reporting the news of his signing, Paul Tenorio of the Washington Post tells you all that you need to know about how meaningful this is:

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Diggs, the All-Met Defensive Player of the Year who is expected to play wide receiver for the Terrapins, chose Maryland from a list of finalists that included Florida, Ohio State and Auburn.

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When was the last time that Maryland was even mentioned in the same breath as schools like Florida, Ohio State and Auburn? Now, the Terrapins are landing players that annual national championship contenders are competing for.

The signing of Diggs is representative of a program that is now moving to the elite level, and there is never a better time to do it.

This is not exactly a glorious time for ACC football. The conference can be won by just about anyone in any given year, and a recruiting class such as this one is going to go a long way in bringing this program a conference championship, which they haven't won since since 2001. Perhaps more telling is that, prior to 2001, they hadn't won the conference since 1985. 

The best thing for Maryland fans is that saying any of this isn't being overly optimistic. Rivals lists this as the 35th-best recruiting class in the country. On top of Diggs, they also signed 4-star players RB Wes Brown and LB Abner Logan, and 14 other 3-star recruits. 

Now consider that this team is coming off of a 2-10 season, which was hardly the 35th-best record in the country. 

The fact that Randy Edsall is landing such an elite recruiting class tells you that recruits are buying what he is selling. It won't be long before he's bringing in another player or two like Diggs every year. When that happens, the results are going to show on the field. 

Photo courtesy of John McDonnell and the Washington Post.

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