Auburn Tight End Preston Howard Rejoins Maryland Through Transfer Portal
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Maryland Terrapins football fans should be seeing a lot of familiar faces during 2026, and not just because of the many returning players from last season.
Head Coach Mike Locksley is also reuniting with some of his former recruits via the transfer portal. First, he brought back DL Lavon Johnson from Texas - the first time during his eight-year tenure that a return transfer occurred.
Then on Wednesday, Locksley followed that move up by re-acquiring a second veteran: rising senior TE Preston Howard. Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports had the report first.
Howard was originally a member of the Terps' freshman Class of 2022, where he enrolled as a three-star prospect. He did not play as a true freshman, and the staff converted him from quarterback to tight end ahead of 2023.
During the next two years, Howard collected 37 catches for 349 yards and a touchdown while playing in 24 games. His lone TD, ironically, came in the 2023 Music City Bowl against Auburn, which Maryland won 31-13.
However, after a 4-8 campaign where he did not find the endzone again, Howard entered the transfer portal and landed with Hugh Freeze at Auburn.
The Tigers did not fare much better than Maryland in 2025, firing Freeze with three games remaining and missing a bowl themselves with a 5-7 (1-7 SEC) record.
Howard played more snaps but took a step backwards in terms of production, finishing with 10 catches for 84 yards and no scores. He also dropped five passes, which was three more than throughout his entire Terrapins stint.
A reunion with Maryland makes sense for several reasons. Quarterback Malik Washington ran a pass-heavy offense while keeping defenses honest with his legs, and one of his favorite targets was TE Dorian Fleming.
While Fleming is back for another year, the Terps' top three receivers from 2025 - Shaleak Knotts, Jalil Farooq, and Octavian Smith Jr. - are not. Neither is Leon Haughton Jr., who was the second-string TE for most of the season.
Some extra familiarity with the system is welcome when much of that leaving production will be counted on from other transfers. The 6'5", 235 lbs. native of Owings Mills, MD offers that in what is no doubt a crucial year for the program.
With several other recent commitments, the Terps currently stand at eight transfers in and 15 out. You can view them all with our transfer portal tracker, which will continue to be updated as more announcements are made.
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Mike joined Sports Illustrated with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball, he returned to the college landscape with Maryland On SI.