Bringing a little Pennsylvania perspective to today’s edition of ‘Five questions’ is Chris Dokish, contributing editor and recruiting writer at the Pittsburgh Sports Report.

Dokish, who has also written for CollegeHoopsNet.com, Insiders.com (now Scout.com) and Rivals.com, recently released his Pennsylvania Top 50 College Prospects list.

Dokish answered five questions via e-mail on the Terps' football recruiting presence in the Keystone State.

1.) What are your impressions of 2008 Terps defensive end commitment Tyler Urban? How is he regarded among Pennsylvania high school football followers? How do you expect him to fare in college?

Urban is what you think of when you think of hard-nosed western Pa. football players. I have him ranked No. 43 in the state because he isn't an elite athlete, and therefore I don't know if he will ever be a star. On the other hand, he [is unlikely to] flop since his game is built on physical and mental toughness, and those traits don't go away. He is definitely the type of player a program needs to be successful because you never have to worry about him. He is what he is -- a tough kid that you can always depend on.

2.) How big of a deal was it for the Terps to fend off Pitt and West Virginia and hold on to Urban?

Pitt is loaded with young defensive ends, so I wouldn't call Urban a must get for them. But it also shows you that, despite not being desperate for a young defensive end, they still liked him enough to offer. He would have fit in well with West Virginia, though, and he is the type of prospect that they turn into a star. I think it hurt West Virginia more because they are desperate to make inroads in the Pittsburgh area, and they usually don't get kids that Pitt wants. So it's good for the Terps to steal a Pittsburgh-area kid that West Virginia no doubt thought they had a great shot to steal from Pitt. It's unusual for Pitt and West Virginia to be two of three teams on a kid, and the kid chooses the third team. But I don't think it will mean anything for the future. In the Pittsburgh area, as long as Dave Wannstedt is at Pitt, the pecking order is usually Pitt, then Penn State, then West Virginia.

3.) What are your impressions of 2008 Maryland offensive tackle commitment R.J. Dill? How is he regarded in the state? What do you expect from him in college?

Dill is not in my top 50, though I'm sure he is in some other top 50s because he had a decent offer list. But the truth is, any time a kid is that big and can move at all, he is going to get offers because you aren't going to find many 17-year old boys who are 6 feet 7 and 270 pounds, and who can run without falling down. That's a lot of body to operate at that age. He needs to put on a lot of good weight and he isn't athletic enough to play left tackle, so his ceiling isn't probably very high, but most offensive linemen are projects at that age. But when he is a redshirt junior, you never know what you may have with him because you can't judge his heart and intangibles until he is actually playing in college for a few years. There are always players who make something out of themselves despite having less than great physical ability. They just need to find other ways to get it done.

4.) Are there any 2009 Pa. kids that you know of that Maryland is going after? Are there any kids that the Terps should be looking at?

It's too early to know who the '09 kids are looking at, but the city of Harrisburg is not far from Maryland and they have a lot of talent there from two schools -- Harrisburg High School and Bishop McDevitt High School (where Jaimie Thomas is from, of course). They each had three top 50 players for me this year and will have some next year, too. The kids from Harrisburg HS have a hard time qualifying so you can always steal a star-caliber player late from that school, if they qualify. A top DE from Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, named Jack Lippert, has also heard from Maryland for next year, but he will be tough to get. His teammate, Justin Shirk, is an early favorite for me. He is a QB with a LB mentality and he is the best in the state, by far, at throwing the javelin, so you know he has the arm. Both Pitt and Penn State have a lot of young QBs, so they may not go after him, but he is good. There will be many others, as usual, and I think Maryland's best chance is central and eastern Pa. because they tend to consider Maryland more local than the Pittsburgh-area schools.

5.) How is Maryland perceived in Pennsylvania? Can the Terps be an out-of-state program that steals an occasional Pa. player, or at least a viable alternative for non-Penn State and Pitt kids?

Obviously Maryland is a good program, but with Wannstedt recruiting so well at Pitt, the always looming Penn State, and the hot program of West Virginia, the Terps will be hard-pressed to steal an elite player out of the state. Then, you have Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Illinois, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, USC, etc., who come in for the top players. And it would be just as hard for Pitt, as an example, to get the elite kids out of Maryland. Even the elite programs have a hard time routinely getting the top prospects out of Pa. It's a bloodbath every year and Maryland will have to be much more successful on the field to have a chance at one of the elite prospects.