In college football, a walk-on is a player who is not on scholarship and does not receive any financial aid from the school. A preferred walk-on, on the other hand, is a player who has been recruited by the school but did not receive a scholarship.
Players who are placed on scholarships are typically given preferential treatment in terms of playing time and coaching. However, this is not always the case for preferred walk-ons. In some instances, preferred walk-ons may be asked to redshirt their first year in order to give them time to develop and adjust to the collegiate level of play.
Walk-ons often have to earn their spot on the team through tryouts and open competition. Once they make the team, they are usually at the bottom of the depth chart and have to work their way up. Preferred walk-ons usually have a better chance of seeing playing time because they have already been scouted by the coaching staff and are considered more talented than your average walk-on.
So in summary, the key difference between a walk-on and preferred walk-on is that preferred walk-ons have already been recruited by the school whilewalk-ons have not received any type of financial aid or preferential treatment fromthe school.