Terps Wideout Jalil Farooq Signs With Baltimore Ravens
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The third Maryland Terrapin wideout has found a new home in the NFL after the 2026 NFL Draft. Jalil Farooq will be signing a deal with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent. Farooq joins his fellow Terrapin wideout Octavian Smith Jr., who also notched a deal back on Saturday evening.
Maryland wide receivers Jalil Farooq and Octavian Smith Jr. are signing with the Baltimore Ravens as UDFAs 🐢 pic.twitter.com/SQfOYxYIYM
— Inside Maryland Sports (@Terrapins247) April 27, 2026
The third Maryland wideout to also strike a deal as a UFA was the leading receiver from 2025 Shaleak Knotts, who joined the Minnesota Vikings, reuniting with Tai Felton, who was drafted in the third round out of College Park in 2024.
Farooq began his collegiate career with the Oklahoma Sooners, spending four seasons playing in one of the toughest conferences in college football: the SEC. His first season was spent sitting behind the upperclassmen, but the next two seasons, he saw a steady increase in production year-to-year (2022-2023): receptions (36 to 45), receiving yards (461 to 694), receptions per contest (2.8 to 3.5), yards per catch (12.8 to 15.4), and yards per contest (35.5 to 53.4).
2024 was a tough season for the 6-foot-1 wideout, who was limited to only two games all season due to injury.
After the 2024 season ended, Farooq entered the transfer portal on December 10th, 2024, and 10 days later signed with Mike Locksley and the Maryland Terrapins.
Farooq was healthy and ready to go once again, playing alongside freshman star Malik Washington, appearing in 12 games at College Park during his fifth year of eligibility....
Hauling in 58 receptions (the 11th most grabs in program history), 545 yards, four touchdowns, 4.8 receptions per contest, 9.4 yards per catch, and 45.4 yards per contest.
Now, like Smith Jr., Farooq enters an interesting situation in Baltimore, where they are in need of depth at the wide receiver position behind top wideouts Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman. Baltimore drafted receivers Ja'Kobi Lane (USC) and Elijah Sarratt (Indiana), who will likely fill out the third and fourth spots.
Even so, Baltimore will still look to add youth and weapons for Lamar Jackson to utilize in the air attack. OTAs, training camp, and preseason will be huge for Farooq in gaining reps and building his skill set.
Farooq will look to showcase his dual ability to line up anywhere on the field, whether in the slot, outside, in the backfield, out in motion, and more. Farooq is a great playmaker who creates yards after the catch and plays with a physical, tough style to his game that allows him to make big catches.
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Jaden's sports journalism career began at the College of Southern Maryland from 2022-2023, where he was brought in to cover baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball at CSM. In late 2023, he began interning at the University of Maryland Athletics Department as a contributing writer to help develop feature stories and game recaps. He also creates his own sports media content on professional Washington teams with LegacyMaker Sports Network.