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Maryland football starts its season in 43 days. Until then, we’re profiling every player on the roster in our Profiles in Terpage series.
Kingsley Opara, defensive tackle
Height: 6’3
Weight: 305 pounds
Year: Redshirt junior
High school: Mandarin (Fla.)
Jersey number: 57
How Opara got to College Park
Florida quickly became a serious recruiting focus for Maryland under DJ Durkin last winter, but it wasn’t much of a pipeline for Maryland under Randy Edsall.
Opara was a notable exception, committing to Maryland in the class of 2013. He was a consensus three-star prospect, ranked as the No. 60 defensive tackle in the country on the 247Sports Composite. He picked Maryland from a pretty length offers list, which included West Virginia, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Temple.
2016 prospectus
Opara did a nice job for Maryland in 2015 in a fairly limited role. He appeared in 11 games and had a handful of tackles in a handful of those, and he drew rightful praise from Edsall before the coach left town at midseason.
Last year was Opara’s first taste of game action, and it came in a Maryland defensive tackle rotation that included a rotating cast of characters. We still know very little about who will play where, but Opara should get some snaps in a group that also includes David Shaw, Azubuike Ukandu and Adam McLean.
What a dream season might look like
Opara could seize a starting job, play well and head into his senior season as a frontrunner to play a lot again.
The next subject in this series ...
... is one of Maryland’s youngest (and biggest) players.
Standings
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