Kingsley Opara has a role to play on Maryland football’s defensive line

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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