Where Maryland football stands with the transfer portal open

The college football transfer portal officially opened on Monday morning as Maryland has already watched seven players depart from the program. With holes to fill from players exhausting eligibility, along with portal departures, Maryland will look to stay aggressive on the trail with the offensive line, cornerback and quarterback among the top priorities.

With potentially five new starters along the offensive line, Maryland has both Kyle Long and Marcus Dumervil able to compete for starting guard spots while Andre Roye has developed in his second season with the program, drawing time in four games this year. Whether Maryland goes full-steam ahead on a portal tackle could hinge on the decision of star tackle DJ Glaze, who remains the prize of the stay-or-go decisions this offseason. Finding a starting center is a priority with Mike Purcell and Aric Harris exhausting their eligibility, and the first tangible portal target surfaced over the weekend when Maryland jumped into the mix for former Purdue C Josh Kaltenberger. His decision timeline is unclear heading into the week, but with one year of eligibility remaining, Kaltenberger will make his way to College Park for an official visit this weekend with a viable chance to close on the Big Ten transfer.

Alongside the offensive line is cornerback, a position that’s suffered from attrition in recent days. After watching Corey Coley and Gavin Gibson depart, along with Tarheeb Still and Ja’Quan Sheppard heading to the NFL, Maryland will look for at least two cornerbacks in the portal as they also look to stabilize the attrition in the room.

The biggest question of the offseason, though, is who will take over at quarterback with Taulia Tagovailoa exhausting his eligibility. Maryland will continue to mine the portal talent with big names dropping by the hour with the portal officially opened on Monday, though finding a veteran guy appears to be the focus as Billy Edwards Jr. and Cam Edge compete for the job through spring ball. Kansas St QB Will Howard is on the initial list as the Terps mine the portal talent, but whether the Terps see any depth quarterbacks depart will be something to watch this offseason.

Wide receiver is the second wildcard, though Tai Felton, Kaden Prather and Octavian Smith are expected back in College Park to lead the room. Whether Maryland suffers additional attrition at the position could alter those plans as the staff was among the long list of schools to offer former Texas A&M WR Raymond Cottrell in November. Meanwhile, the inside linebacker room took a big hit on Sunday when rumors surrounding LB Jaishawn Barham came to fruition after announcing his intention to hit the transfer portal. Maryland battled to keep the former four-star for his third season in the program with a decision still fluid on Saturday, but it’s an uphill battle in the NIL era. Whether LB Ruben Hyppolite opts to utilize his COVID season looms even larger now and a source told IBG over the weekend that it’s on the table heading into the bowl game.

Finding a replacement for DT Tre Colbert and adding another veteran are two wildcards with the transfer portal window officially opening on Monday, though the young tandem of Preston Howard-Dylan Wade adds confidence to the potential passing attack while AJ Szymanski has taken strides in his first few months in the program. Meanwhile, Maryland is still expected to return the bulk of its talent in the trenches while the slight optimism remains that LB Donnell Brown is back for a second season in College Park. With Glen Miler and Dante Trader Jr. set to take over the safety room, Maryland returns ample pieces on the defensive side of the ball to build off.

As for the running back room, I still like Maryland’s chances to have RB Roman Hemby lead the running back room in 2024.

Now, they’ll look to replenish and bolster the offensive side with coaches on the road and visits set to begin this weekend.

Where Maryland football stands with the transfer portal open

Ahmed Ghafir