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 Maryland's starting fullback.

Tyler Cierski, Sophomore, Fullback, #49

via grfx.cstv.com

Stats:

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 255

Major: Kinesiology

Twitter: None that we could find

Collegiate Stats: Four rushes for five yards, one reception for five yards and a touchdown

High School Stats (Senior Year): 143 carries for 792 yards and 11 touchdowns, 16 receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns

Recruiting Ratings: Three stars by Rivals (#4 FB), Scout (#7 FB), ESPN (#2 FB), two stars by 24/7

High School: Mill Creek

Hometown: Dacula, Ga.

High School Highlights:

How'd He Get to College Park?

Tyler Cierski was one of the top fullback prospects in the country in 2010, and it’s easy to see why. The dude is an absolute nightmare in every facet of the fullback game – blocking, catching, and running the football.

Cierski’s commitment follows a familiar pattern among top-level Maryland commitment during the coaching change – the Terps identified him before any other big-time programs, offered him his first scholarship, and built a relationship through the coaching staff that ended up with a commit. Part of a growing movement the Maryland staff (in particular, O-Line coach Tom Brattan) has made into the state of Georgia, Cierski was an early commit to the Terps. He was also recruited by Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech, and was offered by Stanford.

A very bright kid, Cierski also threw shotput and discus in high school and broke six school records while playing football at Mill Creek, including the single season and career marks for points and rushing touchdowns. He first burst onto the recruiting scene after his sophomore year, and was still able to put up good numbers during his junior season despite being hampered by an injury.

After the firing of Ralph Friedgen, Cierski made plans to visit former offensive coordinator James Franklin and Vanderbilt, especially when Mike Leach was thrown around as a candidate. When Randy Edsall was hired, however, Cierski kept his commitment to the Terps.

Last year, Cierski started from the beginning at fullback, as expected. He played in all twelve games, but wasn't a huge part of the offense, only receiving five touches all year. He scored his first touchdown of his career on a five-yard reception against Towson.

Nickname:

Tyler "Moose" Cierski. Every team needs a fullback named Moose.

Career Highlight:

The five-yard touchdown reception against Towson.

Career Lowlight:

Only receiving five touches last year.

Dream Season:

Cierski gets more involved with the offense, scoring three touchdowns.

Nightmare Season:

Locksley's offense doesn't utilize much of the fullback.

2012 Prospectus:

Tyler Cierski is Maryland's unquestioned starter at fullback. There is no position that is more secure. Behind him stand true freshman Kenneth Goins and walk-on Jeff Hernandez, and neither of them will challenge him for that spot.

That doesn't mean Cierski will get a lot of playing time, because even as the starting fullback there might not be much room in the offense for him. Mike Locksley will be running a pseudo-multiple spread-ish offense that we'll have to wait and see to fully understand, but it's hard to imagine fullbacks are a large part of his plan.

In addition, the depth at tailback may end up hurting Cierski's playing time chances. With Brandon Ross, Justus Pickett, Wes Brown, and Albert Reid all pushing for playing time, two of them might end up on the field at a time, pushing Cierski to the sideline.

At the end of the day, though, he should be playing more. He's a year older, has had a year longer at Maryland, and with the injury to C.J. Brown, the Terps will be doing a lot of conventional running and short passing. Both of those should involve Cierski, and hopefully we'll see quite a bit of him this year.

Up Next:

Our next player shares his last name with a person who is now more famous for being a spokesman than the TV show that got him there.

Uh I screwed up on the last one, so nobody gets points.

Standings:

Terpsonfire - 12

Maryland1206 - 11

Dirty_Terps - 9

kbuts151 - 6

bubbasparks - 5

ClickClack62 - 3

Terpsfinish - 2

curterp - 2

fballplyr92 - 2

T Free - 1

Mdak06 - 1

clevesanterp - 1

CSB Jack - 1

Everybody else - 0