Get to Know Your Orange Man: #57, DE Kingsley Jonathan

Name: Kingsley Jonathan

Position: Defensive End

Year: Senior

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 256 lbs.

Hometown: Baltimore, Md.

High School: St. Frances Academy

2019 stats: As a junior with the Syracuse Orange, he managed 24 tackles — including three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Jonathan also notched a forced fumble, a pass break-up and four QB hurries on the year.

2020 projections: Now a starter, the speedy pass-rusher could really wind up having a breakout campaign as a senior. Having McKinley Williams back for a full season should make for a strong group up front that makes it hard to keep track of everyone when forced to double-team.

How’d he get here?: Jonathan turned down an impressive list of schools to head up to Syracuse. He had offers from Florida State, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Duke, Louisville, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest and more to join the Orange.

What’d recruiting sites say?: According to the 247Sports composite rankings, he was a top-600 player in the class of 2017 and had three stars.

Money quote: This Daily Orange story from 2018 sheds some light on Kingsley’s difficult road to Syracuse. Here’s one quote in that piece, from the player himself —

“Some things I wish didn’t happen, but I always trusted God. I knew it was his plan. That’s what he wanted me to go through, to experience that, so that I could help people coming from Nigeria and be an example. Throughout the whole process I saw it as a lesson. God showed me things that I needed to learn, things that I needed to open my eyes to.”

Twitter feed: @Kingg_J1

Tweets of wonder: Despite a lack of big numbers last year, Pro Football Focus certainly liked what they saw anyway.

What movie would Dino Babers recommend for him?: Of course we found a way to tie this into the MCU. British actor Ben Kingsley played Trevor Slattery in 2013’s “Iron Man 3.” You’re probably familiar with the Iron Man movies, and this one is actually a pretty unique film among the 23 Marvel titles to-date. We won’t get into the extensive backstory of Trevor or the Mandarin here, but I’d contend this movie has actually gotten better over time.

Interesting nugget o’interest: Kingsley’s given first name is “Chukwuemeka.” He’s a native of Nigeria, and (according to one source) Chukwuemeka means “God has done great” in the Igbo language. The Igbo people are from southeastern Nigeria.

Let’s get a good look at ya: Impressive highlight reel, even back in January 2019.