Profiles in Terpage: Milan Collins

Milan Collins, Freshman (RS), Safety, #2

Stats:

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 200

Twitter: @terps_2

Collegiate Stats: N/A

High School Stats (Senior Year): 1500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards, 300 receiving yards, 15 touchdowns; 60 tackles

247sports composite Ratings: Three stars, 35th-best athlete in the nation, 26th-best player in Maryland

High School: Bishop McNamara (Md.)

Hometown: LaPlata, Md.

High School Highlights:

You can view them here.

How'd He Get to College Park?

Collins is a Louisiana native, but his family was transplanted to the D.C. area by Hurricane Katrina several years ago - and years later he became part of the Maryland Pride movement. Collins was offered by a handful of other BCS schools, including Boston College, N.C. State, and Syracuse, but he decided instead to stay at home, even though it meant transitioning from quarterback to being a full-time safety.

Collins will now be joined in College Park by former Bishop McNamara blue-chipper Damian Prince, and will likely see the field this season. As a true freshman, Collins fractured his ankle "horsing around" in Dorchester Hall, ending a promising spring in which he was projected to get reps with the second team.

Nickname:

"The Maryland Flash" (that's his real nickname)

Career Highlight:

In his own words, throwing an 80-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter in McNamara's 7-0 win over Georgetown Prep.

Dream Season:

Collins wins the backup job at strong safety over Zach Dancel, pushing Anthony Nixon for a starting role and contributing on special teams.

2014 Prospectus:

Collins was listed fourth on Maryland's preseason depth chart at strong safety, but that's almost definitely due to his injury status -- he was still recovering. Collins will certainly beat out walk-on J.T. Ventura for the third spot, and could give Zach Dancel and even Anthony Nixon a run for some playing time and a spot on the two-deep.

Maryland has two established safeties on top of the depth chart in Nixon and Sean Davis, but while they've played major roles for two years they haven't exactly been all-conference performers. Collins was an intriguing prospect coming out of high school who Maryland did not get to see play last season (besides a promising spring), and there's no reason to think he can't compete for playing time this season as a redshirt freshman.

Up Next:

Our next player shares his last name with the stage name of a well-known rapper (as well as another Terp).

Standings:

RedTurtle gets another, meaning we now have someone in second place.

timmyw3: 6

RedTurtle: 2

aubartolomei: 1

ClickClack62: 1

Terps_roc: 1

Daniel Hamilton: 1

testudbro: 1