DBs Elijah and Elisha Daniels to transfer from Maryland football

Maryland football lost two more members of its defensive backing core on Tuesday, with sophomores Elijah and Elisha Daniels transferring.

They become the third and fourth members of the defensive unit to leave the program this season, following redshirt junior Alex Woods and freshman Markquese Bell. The twins announced the decision with a statement on though their Twitter accounts.

Though neither started this season, both saw the field, with Elijah playing five games and Elisha appearing in two contests, and both ended the season with a solo tackle on their resume.

The twins from Florida will now look elsewhere for opportunities. They both committed to Maryland in coach DJ Durkin’s first recruiting class as a package deal of three-star defensive backs, a couple weeks after decommitting from Minnesota. The Gophers could be back on the table as a potential landing spot, as well as any other team that decides to throw its hat into the ring.

This is another blow to Maryland’s secondary depth. The unit will lose Josh Woods to graduation, and has already lost Bell and Alex Woods without a snap from either. Maryland will return Darnell Savage Jr., along with Quantrez Knight, Tino Ellis and Antoine Brooks Jr., who has experience at safety as well. The Terps will also get a healthy Deon Jones at cornerback; he was the Terps’ second-highest rated 2017 recruit behind Anthony McFarland.

This also makes holding onto four-star defensive back Noah Boykin’s commitment that much more important. Boykin is the highest-rated of three 2018 defensive back commitments, and has been flirting with Virginia Tech recently. Maryland also has three-star prospects Vincent Flythe and Raymond Boone expected to sign later this month.