Profiles In Terpage - A Countdown to the Football Season: Andre Monroe

A recurring series where we will profile every player on Maryland's roster, counting down to kick-off against William & Mary on September 1. Thanks to OBNUG for the idea.

Today we profile a player who was a surprise star in limited time last year.

Andre Monroe, Sophomore (RS), Defensive Tackle, #93

via grfx.cstv.com

Stats:

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 265

Major: Letters and sciences

Twitter: @Dre_Kang

Collegiate Stats: 18 tackles (11 assisted), seven and a half for a loss, five sacks

High School Stats (Senior Year): 61 tackles, 18 for a loss

Recruiting Ratings: Three stars by Scout (#86 DT), ESPN (#57 DT), two stars by Rivals (#56 DT)

High School: St. John's College

Hometown: Upper Marlboro, Md.

High School Highlights:

Can't find a full video, but there are three ten-second clips of him. Here's one of them:

How'd He Get to College Park?

Monroe was one of the better defensive tackles in the WCAC (being twice named all-conference), and his coach Joe Patterson called him the best defensive tackle he’s ever coached. The Terps were the only BCS program to offer the defensive tackle, and he was courted by a host of MAC schools as well as Mike Locksley and New Mexico, and Monroe ended up choosing College Park because of its proximity to home and his connection with the players, namely Pete White, a teammate at St. John’s. When asked later about his recruitment, Monroe said he didn’t even have a runner-up – that’s how sure he was about Maryland.

The defensive tackle was named All-Met and All-City in addition to his All-Conference honors after his senior year, and he’s proven himself to be a steal for the Terps already. After redshirting in his first season on campus, Monroe exploded last year, earning freshman All-American honors while leading the team in sacks and tying for the lead in tackles for a loss in just nine games of work (and only four starts).

Nickname:

Andre "Dre" Monroe. It's what he goes by.

Career Highlight:

Being named a freshman All-American.

Career Lowlight:

Missing three games due to an ankle injury.

Dream Season:

Monroe beats out Keith Bowers for the starting spot at defensive end, leaving Maryland with three natural defensive tackles starting on the line.

Nightmare Season:

Monroe becomes a seldom-used bench player.

2012 Prospectus:

In the competition for the third starting spot on the defensive line, Andre Monroe has one big advantage over most of the other guys - he occasionally played defensive end in a 3-4 in high school, as evidenced in the video above. Monroe is behind Keith Bowers and in front of Ian Evans on the spring depth chart, but as we've talked about over the past week or so, Isaiah Ross, Justin Anderson and Quinton Jefferson could all make a significant push for playing time.

Even though he's only played one year at Maryland, Monroe is also by far the most productive of the six guys that we think will be battling for that spot. He was a bit undersized for a defensive tackle and is definitely undersized for a nose tackle, but should do well as a 3-4 defensive end.

The only thing really holding Monroe back is the fact that two other defensive tackles (A.J. Francis and Joe Vellano) have essentially locked up starting jobs. Maryland might not want three natural defensive tackles starting on the line due to speed concerns, but both Vellano and Monroe showed a quickness at defensive tackle not usually expected.

Up Next:

Our next player's high school coach shares his name with the best selling whiskey in the world.

bubbasparks got yesterday's right, giving us another contender.

Standings:

Maryland1206 - 5

kbuts151 - 3

Terpsfinish - 1

ClickClack62 - 1

Mdak06 - 1

bubbasparks - 1

Everybody else - 0