Talk D.C. Sports

Mark Rypien behind a curtain of granite in Super Bowl 26: Jeff Bostic-C, Raleigh MacKenzie-LG, Jim Lachey-LT, Mark Schlereth-RG, and Joe Jacoby-RT. For the entire season Rypien was sacked 9-times with a big fat 0 in the Super Bowl. This last pre-season game comes amid stress-saturated hyperventilation over the state of the current Offensive Line. Whatever that state truly is it will be a safe bet they won’t be as good as this 1992-Champions O-line was.

These two teams want this pre-season to be over with early. Tonight’s game starts at 6:00pm EDT. Washington has been up near Baltimore already once this week. It was a lovely day for a picnic. But, it was a lousy day for a Washington fan. Baltimore had the better of things by a large margin. The hype machine has exhausted the lexicon for words that convey a sense of things gone awry: Disaster, Dysfunctional, Dismal (There are more words starting with “D” but by now you get the point.) It was bad per the eyeballs actually there to watch it. The problem is that will have been the last real work against humans from another team until Sunday, September 13 in the always unfriendly confines of Philadelphia’s Lincoln Field. ‘Tis a long time to sit and digest this latest piece of gristle.

What We Really Know

…is that the Center of this Line with backups is really poor. A lot of this was known beforehand. Matt Gulbin is the 6th-Round pick that was plugged into the fire. He’s Strong. He’s not quick, though. Zone-Read Running plays need linemen that can move. Brandon Coleman is going to be great at zone blocking. He’s already shown it. Gulbin, though, will probably never crack Backup status. But, he was out there because

For the 2026 season, Maryland Terps football aims to bounce back from consecutive 4-8 seasons under head coach Michael Locksley. Armed with a core of returning talent—led by sophomore quarterback Malik Washington and running back DeJuan Williams—the team looks to improve its consistency and avoid the late-game collapses that plagued them in the 2025 season.

“All those losses we had a year ago have now become lessons for a really talented young team,” Locksley said. “The wisdom and experience that we gained going through it I think will benefit us.”

There is certainly reason for optimism as QB Malik Washington returns after a stellar true-freshman campaign where he threw for nearly 3,000 yards, highlighted by a 459-yard, three-touchdown finale against Michigan State. Clint Trickett aims to inject fresh energy, focusing particularly on maximizing quarterback mobility and boosting the ground game. DeJuan Williams returns in the backfield alongside a young,