Maryland football tied for lowest-graded Big Ten portal class

Ahmed Ghafir
5 minutes ago
2 min read

Maryland football will kick off spring ball almost exactly one month as head coach Mike Locksley and his slightly altered coaching staff look to put the pieces together in hopes of finalizing a bounceback 2026 after consecutive four-win seasons.

While offseason win total projections have yet to be released with all eyes on whether the program can get back to bowl eligibility, there was some pessimism that made headlines last week after Maryland tied Michigan State for the lowest transfer portal grade among Big Ten teams, earning a ‘D+’ from Manny Navarro of The Athletic.

The Athletic: Mike Locksley enters his seventh season in College Park with the same approach to roster building — bringing in more high school recruits (17) than transfers (11). Maryland lost 10 full-time starters from last year’s 4-8 team, including three to the portal. The biggest holes to fill were on the offensive line, receiver and defensive back. Jackson, a 28-game starter in his career, was the only P4 part-time starter added on defense, while Gladding was the only full-time starter added on offense. It’s clear Locksley is counting on a lot of young players to grow up quickly and become effective. But if that fails, there’s no doubt this approach will be questioned.

Maryland, who lost four more players than gained through the portal, also added nearly 2,000 snaps of experience from its portal haul with the bulk of the additions expected to step into impact roles. Both Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding and Chris Durr enter their tenure with the program with a chance to step into starting roles to replenish a depleted wide receiver room, while Derrick LeBlanc and Lavon Johnson arrive to add experienced depth to the interior defensive line. Cornerback Amari Jackson will likely start alongside Jamare Glasker and Dontay Joyner to add to the top of the unit, while Preston Howard now returns alongside Dorian Fleming to add an experienced tandem of receiving threats to the offense.

While the grade only factors in additions, the last two sentences highlight the theme for Maryland football heading into year eight under Mike Locksley after a premium was put on the retention of its freshmen class. In the end, only one player from the 2025 class departed with athlete Dante Recker no longer with the program, while the staff kept Malik Washington, Sidney Stewart and Zahir Mathis out of the transfer portal shortly after the 2025 season ended with Stewart the last to finalize his decision.

Whether the haul ends up being enough remains to be seen, but it’s clear the identity of the 2026 season once again sits on the shoulders of the talented class now transitioning into their sophomore seasons.

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