Get to Know Your Orange Man: #12, DL Latarie Kinsler

Name: Latarie Kinsler

Position: Defensive line

Year: Freshman

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 213 lbs.

Hometown: Pahokee, Fla.

High School: Pahokee

2019 stats: Played in just three games last year at Pahokee, since his season was derailed by injury. He still managed four sacks and a forced fumble in just three games.

2020 projections: Kinsler was on campus with the Syracuse Orange in January, starting to learn the new scheme. But he wasn’t on the two-deep depth chart that was released prior to spring ball. That likely means he’s a redshirt candidate — right now, anyway. Obviously he could wind up playing if he progresses this offseason.

How’d he get here?: Kinsler had a pretty extensive list of offers before picking Syracuse. Chief among them were Penn State, USC, Miami, Washington, Oregon and LSU, along with plenty of others.

What’d recruiting sites say?: Threes from everybody.

Money quote: Kinsler’s senior year injury definitely made things tough for him.

“When I got hurt, I actually sat back and it made me understand that there’s more to life than football. I’m not happy that God did that, but I’m thankful that he did that because it opened my eyes to life, and that football can be gone at any time.”

Twitter feed: @lk2jr

Tweets of wonder: Pre-injury, there was a lot of hype around Kinsler (Syracuse sticking around despite that spoke some volumes).

What movie would Dino recommend for him?: Perhaps Latarie’s seen this one already, but there was a documentary about Pahokee (called “Pahokee”) that came out last year. It was pretty well regarded, as you’ll see in this review.

Interesting nugget o’interest: Kinsler announced he was officially headed to Syracuse alongside fellow Orange signee (and fellow South Florida resident) Ja’Vontae Williams back in December.

Let’s get a look at ya: Here’s a signing class video for you —