Leon Haughton adding confidence heading into year two with Maryland football
- Ahmed Ghafir
- Aug 23, 2023
- 2 min read
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF-zhDhOunY
With Dontay Demus now with the Baltimore Ravens through the preseason, Maryland fans will get to know former West Virginia wide receiver Kaden Prather as the big-bodied wideout in the room this fall, but Leon Haughton has progressed heading into his second season with the program.
Haughton, a 6-foot-4 wideout originally from Virginia, signed with Maryland in the 2022 class before enrolling in the summer appearing in seven games last fall. Despite having just one catch last fall to show for it, the in-game reps have Haughton him to compliment Prather as a dynamic wideout in the Terps’ offense.
“The biggest thing is confidence. As a freshman, I feel like I was kind of unsure of myself what to do at times, but now that I know the offense, I feel like I’m able to flow in pretty well,” Haughton said after Wednesday’s practice. “I know my assignment, it’s just about getting the job done.”
Learning behind Demus last season gave Leon Haughton a chance to add to his own repertoire as a similar receiver.
“Dontay’s very physical and he uses his body to his advantage, so us being kind of the same size, same height and all, I kind of feel like I learned how to use my body more to my advantage, especially against smaller .”
Haughton is among the underclassmen ready to step into impact roles, but the veteran trio of Prather, Tyrese Chambers and Jeshaun Jones gives the room another teacher to turn to.
“The younger guys, including myself, look to those guys as a shoulder to lean on. Whenever things are going wrong, we look toward those guys. Or we have a question, we look towards those guys. They’re really like the glue of the room.”
Still, it’s been Maryland’s defense whose been ahead of the offense through the two scrimmages as outside linebacker Kellan Wyatt has seen the defensive jumps from his first season into his second.
“We improved a lot on effort and the push upfront. Like I said, I just can’t wait to see it.” That includes the linebacker room, the undoubted strength of the defense.
“We improved inside and outside. We’ve kind of got returning players from both groups, so we’re kind of more experienced so we can play a lot faster this year.”
Maryland has just a handful of practices left before head coach Mike Locksley turns his team’s attention toward game prep with Towson set to make the short trip down I-95 for a 3:30 PM kickoff next Saturday. Until then, Maryland will look to come out of camp unscathed.
“I just want to see us finish camp strong, no injuries,” Wyatt added. “We finish strong going into week one, I feel like all of that will carry over into week with the energy.”
