Head coach Randy Edsall answers questions about the upcoming season during Terps Media Day at the Gossett Team House on Aug. 10, 2015.

Head coach Randy Edsall answers questions about the upcoming season during Terps Media Day at the Gossett Team House on Aug. 10, 2015.

The top two offensive linemen from the Terrapins football team’s 2014 recruiting class won’t start in the season opener against Richmond on Saturday.

Instead, redshirt sophomore Mike Minter, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship Sunday, will start at left guard.

With redshirt freshman Damian Prince, the projected starter at right tackle, “nicked up” during fall camp, coach Randy Edsall moved senior Ryan Doyle from left guard to right tackle, where he started 10 games last year.

That opened up a spot at left guard for Minter, who hasn’t started in his career.

“He went out there and just worked really, really hard,” Edsall said. “There were things that we saw in the spring that we liked, and again, he went out and executed.”

While Minter lacks experience, the other four starters on the line have a combined 73 starts among them. The unit returns three starters from last year — Doyle, right guard Andrew Zeller and left tackle Michael Dunn.

Prince, a Rivals.com five-star recruit, was the crown jewel of last year’s class, but he redshirted last season and didn’t play in the intrasquad scrimmage Aug. 22. Edsall said he made the decision to hold Prince out so the fifth-year coach could evaluate other linemen.

The Bishop McNamara product has returned to practice, but he has fallen behind Minter on the depth chart.

Derwin Gray, a Rivals.com four-star recruit, was initially slated to arrive in College Park in 2013 but played that fall at Fork Union Military Academy due to academic issues, according to The Washington Post. He redshirted last season and then tore his labrum, an injury from which he is still recovering.

While the Terps aren’t starting two highly regarded offensive line recruits, Edsall said he’s pleased with how the unit’s progressing.

“Those five are playing well together,” Edsall said. “Those five have been working really well and communicating really well together.”

WIDEOUTS STEP INTO BIGGER ROLES

Graduation, the NFL, personal matters and disciplinary issues depleted the Terps’ wide receiver corps; it lost five of its top seven pass catchers, who accounted for more than 80 percent of the team’s receptions.

Stefon Diggs and Deon Long combined to produce 1,367 receiving yards, nearly half the Terps’ total last season. After the season, Diggs declared for the NFL draft and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings. Long signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent after his senior season.

In May, Marcus Leak, third on the team in receiving yards and the star of the Terps’ spring game, withdrew from school. A month later, sophomore Juwann Winfree did the same after receiving an indefinite suspension. Running back Jacquille Veii, who played mostly slot receiver last season, transferred to Towson in the offseason.

Wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo and running back Brandon Ross are the sole returners out of the top seven.

Those departures have created a void that Etta-Tawo and Levern Jacobs, the Terps’ top two starters heading into Saturday, will try to fill as they help quarterback Perry Hills settle into the starting role.

“We’ve got a lot of people doubting our offense because they think we’ve lost a lot of people,” said Jacobs, who was suspended last season. “We have all the tools to be good this year.”

In 2013, Jacobs led the Terps in receptions (47) and receiving yards (640). And last year, Etta-Tawo, then a sophomore, flashed big play potential with a team-leading 22.2 yards per catch on 10 catches.

The Terps have a bevy of other pass catchers: junior DeAndre Lane, freshman D.J. Moore, redshirt junior Malcolm Culmer and Jacobs’ younger brother, redshirt sophomore Taivon Jacobs, who could emerge as playmakers.

SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED

Five players found out they would be on scholarship this season during a team meeting Sunday. The Terps were shown celebrating in a video posted to Twitter.

Joining Minter were long snapper Christian Carpenter, defensive tackle Azubuike Ukandu, running back Andrew Stefanelli and defensive lineman Ty Tucker.