Stefon Diggs is moving on, foregoing his senior season at Maryland and entering the NFL draft.
With Diggs gone, here are the players set to return for Maryland who I think have the best pro potential:
Sophomore outside linebacker Yannick Ngakoue
After playing a limited role as a freshman, Ngakoue consistently stood out during preseason practice and finished this season with 13.5 tackles for a loss and six sacks. He will be one of the centerpieces of Maryland's defense next season, and I think he has a chance to be a second- or third-round draft pick, possibly as early as next year, if he continues to work and improve like he has since the end of his freshman season.
Freshman offensive tackle Derwin Gray
I talked with offensive line coach Greg Studrawa at Maryland's media day in August. At one point, I said, "With Derwin, it seems like he has the size and attributes to become a special player for you guys." As I was saying it, Studrawa was nodding his head and eventually smiled and said, "Mmhmm."
Gray has good size for a tackle at 6 feet 5, 300 pounds. He is built like an upperclassman and arrived at Maryland already bench-pressing in excess of 400 pounds. You could see how much talent he has even while he was acclimating to the college level during preseason practice.
After redshirting this year, Gray will have an opportunity to compete for a starting job leading into next season.
Junior kicker Brad Craddock
Craddock won the Lou Groza Award as the best kicker in college football this season, and he has the talent and work ethic to be a kicker in the NFL for a long time.
Craddock was 18 of 19 on field goals this year, and 29 of his 75 kickoffs produced touchbacks.
Freshman outside linebacker Jesse Aniebonam
As early as the summer, senior linebacker L.A. Goree said one of his roommates, senior outside linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil, kept telling him, 'Man, Jesse's going to be nice. Jesse's going to be nice."
That is the belief among Maryland players and coaches.
Aniebonam was strictly a situational pass rusher as a freshman this season and needs to both get bigger and continue to evolve his game. However, the former four-star recruit has the size, speed, athleticism and natural pass rushing skills to develop into a force for Maryland and to one day be an early-round draft pick.
Sophomore cornerback Will Likely
While Likely is only 5 feet 7, 175 pounds, he is a tough, scrappy and instinctive playmaker whom I could see having a decent NFL career as a sub-package cornerback and return man.
Likely tied for the Big Ten lead with six interceptions, averaged 31 yards per kick return and returned both a punt and a kick for touchdowns.