B
Brian Shoemaker
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Gamecock Nation Today
- Tuesday, May 7, 2019 -
Good morning from Gamecock Central.
The Spurs Up Tour makes a stop in Sumter tonight. Wednesday is Myrtle Beach and Thursday is Atlanta.
The women's golf team continues play in 2019 NCAA Cle Elum Regional.
1. Who are South Carolina's five best returning players on offense?
Who are the best returning players on South Carolina's team? It's a question that we'll look to answer using Pro Football Focus' grades from last season.
Pro Football Focus - or PFF - has quickly become a highly relied upon tool in determining player performance in the last few years, particularly during NFL broadcasts.
What exactly is PFF? Essentially, PFF is the marriage of the “But look at the stats!” and “I know what I saw” football watchers. PFF knows that not all stats are created equally.
Thus, it seeks to judge players individually for their contributions on each play. PFF seeks not to give stats but to interpret stats (More on PFF here).
Yesterday we looked at the defense. Today we look at South Carolina's top returning offensive players, based on their PFF grades in 2018:
QB Jake Bentley - 73.6 overall PFF grade
South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley's 2018 season featured its share of ups and downs and those are accurately reflected in his PFF grades.
Bentley had his two highest graded games of the season in back-to-back weeks against Tennessee (85.5) and Ole Miss (84.8). Interestingly enough, PFF's system wasn't as high on his career-high 510 yards and five touchdowns through the air against Clemson, giving him a solid, but not spectacular 70.7.
Bentley's overall grade was dragged down by season-low grades versus Georgia (57.3), Akron (48.3) and Virginia (51.8).
WR Bryan Edwards - 73.2
It's no surprise that Edwards is the highest graded returning wide receiver on the team. His 73.2 was second only to Deebo Samuel's grade of 83.3 at the position last season.
Edwards caught 55 passes on 87 targets for 838 yards and seven touchdowns. Edwards, who had 330 yards after the catch, accounted for 38 first downs (highest among non-quarterbacks).
RB Rico Dowdle - 72.1
After going into the season primed for a possible breakout year, Dowdle's campaign was derailed by injuries that limited him to just 343 snaps on the season.
While Dowdle never completely got on track, he did account for 33 first downs and rushed for 3.36 yards after contact per attempt. Dowdle produced a team-high 19 avoided tackles on rushes.
WR Shi Smith - 69.5
Smith has as much upside as any receiver on the South Carolina roster and will no doubt be counted as a greater part of the offense in 2019. Smith's two biggest games of 2018, according to PFF, came against Vanderbilt (83.7) and Clemson (83.1).
Smith, who was targeted on 62 passes, caught 45 of them for a reception percentage of 72.6 on balls thrown his way, which was interestingly higher than those thrown to both Samuel and Edwards.
OL Donell Stanley - 69.2
Anchoring South Carolina's line as the team's center last season, Stanley allowed just one sack, one quarterback hit and six hurries in 514 pass-blocking snaps, which is likely why he was the highest graded pass blocker among Carolina's starters with a pass-block grade of 81.3.
Stanley, who will likely move back to guard this season, actually had the best season of his career there in 2017 when he posted an overall grade of 73.8.
NOTES:
* Running back A.J. Turner's overall grade of 73.5 would have put him second on this list if not for the fact that he played just 137 offensive snaps. Turner was also Carolina's best pass-catching back, by far, with a grade of 74.8 in that area.
– Wes Mitchell
2. ⚾ Former Gamecock Christian Walker for Rookie of the Year?
Major League Baseball fans are finally seeing in Christian Walker what South Carolina fans saw for the three years that the elite hitter was in the Garnet and Black.
Walker, finally getting a chance as an everyday starter for Arizona, is hitting .314 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs through 32 games played (going into Monday night's game). Walker's .992 OPS and .610 slugging percentage are both tops among rookies with at least 100 at-bats.
Those numbers led MLB.com's Richard Justice to list Walker second in the N.L. Rookie of the Year race to the Mets' Pete Alonso in an article late last week:
The 28-year-old debuted in 2014, but he still has rookie eligibility. It’s been a few years since Walker was a top prospect with the Orioles, but he has finally gotten a chance to get consistent at-bats and is making the most of it in helping the D-backs to a surprising start.
After Jackie Bradley, Jr. took home ALCS MVP honors and Steve Pearce grabbed the World Series MVP trophy last season, maybe another former Gamecock can add to the trophy case this season.
– Wes Mitchell
3. This, that, and the other
Baseball, Basketball, Football: Looking at injuries to men's sports this year- Examining the injuries that ravaged each of the men's sports teams. (link)
Football: Former Gamecock safety lands head coaching gig - Former South Carolina safety Brandon Isaac is home. The Blackville-Hilda graduate has returned to his alma-mater where he's now the high school's head football coach, Gamecock Central has learned. (link)
Football: The RichRod Saga - We look back on our coverage of a wild day in December of 2015. (subscription)
Football: Why Jones' emergence, Thompson's return is huge for Gamecocks' linebackers - South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp's spring Spurs Up tour has featured plenty of good news on Gamecocks' LBs. (subscription)
Women's Golf: Gamecocks open NCAA play - USC finds itself in 14th after the conclusion of the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Cle Elum Regional. (link)
Women's Basketball: Gamecocks land former McDonald's All-American - Gamecocks add a BIG12 transfer. (link)
– Jackson Fields
4. This Date in Gamecock History
May 7, 1970 – Two-sport athlete Eddie Bolton (also a wide receiver in football) shuts out The Citadel on four hits.
5. Birthdays and Celebrations!
Sam Dyson - Drafted in the 19th round of the 2006 draft out of Tampa, Dyson instead enrolled at USC. He took a medical redshirt in 2007 but made a big bang his redshirt freshman season, earning Freshman all-America honors from Collegiate Baseball. Dyson was 8-0 that year and his best outing may have been a 6.2-inning start against LSU where he allowed no runs and just two hits while striking out six. He was 9-4 as a junior, including beating George Mason in an NCAA Regional start while also winning six SEC starts. He hurled a complete game win against Georgia, striking out 13. As a senior. he again defeated Georgia, earning SEC Pitcher of the Week after a complete game shutout. Dyson finished 6-5, then was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. He's pitched in the majors since 2012 with the Blue Jays, Marlins, Rangers and Giants, saving 38 games for the Rangers in 2016.
Elem Ibiam (women's basketball/center, 2011-15)
Kate Pouliot (softball/pitcher, 2005-08)
Rich Pratt (baseball/pitcher, 1990-93)
Malik Russell (basketball/forward, 1994-96)
Chris Spigner (baseball/pitcher, 1999-02)
– John Parker, gamecockarchives.com
6. ⌚ Key Events (Countdown)
• May 8 – SEC Softball Tourney (1 day)
• May 21 – SEC Baseball Tourney (14)
• July 15 – SEC Media Days begins (69)
• July 20 – Ladies Football Clinic (74)
• Aug. 31 – Football: Gamecocks vs UNC (116)
More happenings
• May 7 – Sumter, Spurs Up Tour
• May 8 – Myrtle Beach, Spurs Up Tour
• May 8 – Marion Gamecock Club meeting
• May 9 – Atlanta, Spurs Up Tour
• May 14 – Charleston, Spurs Up Tour
• May 18 – SC Legends Baseball Camp
Will Muschamp is scheduled to appear at all of the Spurs Up Tour events. More information, including locations and ticket prices, can be found here.
DID YOU KNOW? You can receive this report (Gamecock Nation Today) early each morning in your email inbox. Sign up here.
------------------------
Gamecock Nation Today
- Tuesday, May 7, 2019 -
Good morning from Gamecock Central.
The Spurs Up Tour makes a stop in Sumter tonight. Wednesday is Myrtle Beach and Thursday is Atlanta.
The women's golf team continues play in 2019 NCAA Cle Elum Regional.
1. Who are South Carolina's five best returning players on offense?
Who are the best returning players on South Carolina's team? It's a question that we'll look to answer using Pro Football Focus' grades from last season.
Pro Football Focus - or PFF - has quickly become a highly relied upon tool in determining player performance in the last few years, particularly during NFL broadcasts.
What exactly is PFF? Essentially, PFF is the marriage of the “But look at the stats!” and “I know what I saw” football watchers. PFF knows that not all stats are created equally.
Thus, it seeks to judge players individually for their contributions on each play. PFF seeks not to give stats but to interpret stats (More on PFF here).
Yesterday we looked at the defense. Today we look at South Carolina's top returning offensive players, based on their PFF grades in 2018:
QB Jake Bentley - 73.6 overall PFF grade
South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley's 2018 season featured its share of ups and downs and those are accurately reflected in his PFF grades.
Bentley had his two highest graded games of the season in back-to-back weeks against Tennessee (85.5) and Ole Miss (84.8). Interestingly enough, PFF's system wasn't as high on his career-high 510 yards and five touchdowns through the air against Clemson, giving him a solid, but not spectacular 70.7.
Bentley's overall grade was dragged down by season-low grades versus Georgia (57.3), Akron (48.3) and Virginia (51.8).
WR Bryan Edwards - 73.2
It's no surprise that Edwards is the highest graded returning wide receiver on the team. His 73.2 was second only to Deebo Samuel's grade of 83.3 at the position last season.
Edwards caught 55 passes on 87 targets for 838 yards and seven touchdowns. Edwards, who had 330 yards after the catch, accounted for 38 first downs (highest among non-quarterbacks).
RB Rico Dowdle - 72.1
After going into the season primed for a possible breakout year, Dowdle's campaign was derailed by injuries that limited him to just 343 snaps on the season.
While Dowdle never completely got on track, he did account for 33 first downs and rushed for 3.36 yards after contact per attempt. Dowdle produced a team-high 19 avoided tackles on rushes.
WR Shi Smith - 69.5
Smith has as much upside as any receiver on the South Carolina roster and will no doubt be counted as a greater part of the offense in 2019. Smith's two biggest games of 2018, according to PFF, came against Vanderbilt (83.7) and Clemson (83.1).
Smith, who was targeted on 62 passes, caught 45 of them for a reception percentage of 72.6 on balls thrown his way, which was interestingly higher than those thrown to both Samuel and Edwards.
OL Donell Stanley - 69.2
Anchoring South Carolina's line as the team's center last season, Stanley allowed just one sack, one quarterback hit and six hurries in 514 pass-blocking snaps, which is likely why he was the highest graded pass blocker among Carolina's starters with a pass-block grade of 81.3.
Stanley, who will likely move back to guard this season, actually had the best season of his career there in 2017 when he posted an overall grade of 73.8.
NOTES:
* Running back A.J. Turner's overall grade of 73.5 would have put him second on this list if not for the fact that he played just 137 offensive snaps. Turner was also Carolina's best pass-catching back, by far, with a grade of 74.8 in that area.
– Wes Mitchell
2. ⚾ Former Gamecock Christian Walker for Rookie of the Year?
Major League Baseball fans are finally seeing in Christian Walker what South Carolina fans saw for the three years that the elite hitter was in the Garnet and Black.
Walker, finally getting a chance as an everyday starter for Arizona, is hitting .314 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs through 32 games played (going into Monday night's game). Walker's .992 OPS and .610 slugging percentage are both tops among rookies with at least 100 at-bats.
Those numbers led MLB.com's Richard Justice to list Walker second in the N.L. Rookie of the Year race to the Mets' Pete Alonso in an article late last week:
The 28-year-old debuted in 2014, but he still has rookie eligibility. It’s been a few years since Walker was a top prospect with the Orioles, but he has finally gotten a chance to get consistent at-bats and is making the most of it in helping the D-backs to a surprising start.
After Jackie Bradley, Jr. took home ALCS MVP honors and Steve Pearce grabbed the World Series MVP trophy last season, maybe another former Gamecock can add to the trophy case this season.
– Wes Mitchell
3. This, that, and the other
Baseball, Basketball, Football: Looking at injuries to men's sports this year- Examining the injuries that ravaged each of the men's sports teams. (link)
Football: Former Gamecock safety lands head coaching gig - Former South Carolina safety Brandon Isaac is home. The Blackville-Hilda graduate has returned to his alma-mater where he's now the high school's head football coach, Gamecock Central has learned. (link)
Football: The RichRod Saga - We look back on our coverage of a wild day in December of 2015. (subscription)
Football: Why Jones' emergence, Thompson's return is huge for Gamecocks' linebackers - South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp's spring Spurs Up tour has featured plenty of good news on Gamecocks' LBs. (subscription)
Women's Golf: Gamecocks open NCAA play - USC finds itself in 14th after the conclusion of the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Cle Elum Regional. (link)
Women's Basketball: Gamecocks land former McDonald's All-American - Gamecocks add a BIG12 transfer. (link)
– Jackson Fields
4. This Date in Gamecock History
May 7, 1970 – Two-sport athlete Eddie Bolton (also a wide receiver in football) shuts out The Citadel on four hits.
- The win was Bolton's sixth in nine decisions and he mowed down three of the final four batters with strikeouts.
- One USC run came in the fourth when SS Butch Anderson walked and stole second, then scored on a throwing error by the Bulldogs on a ground ball to the pitcher by 3B Bruce Pudlock.
- The insurance run came in the seventh on an RBI single from outfielder Donnie Churchwell, that scored Tony Livonese, who had singled and stolen second.
- The win improved USC's record to 11-17, with Bolton owning more than half of Carolina's wins.
5. Birthdays and Celebrations!
Sam Dyson - Drafted in the 19th round of the 2006 draft out of Tampa, Dyson instead enrolled at USC. He took a medical redshirt in 2007 but made a big bang his redshirt freshman season, earning Freshman all-America honors from Collegiate Baseball. Dyson was 8-0 that year and his best outing may have been a 6.2-inning start against LSU where he allowed no runs and just two hits while striking out six. He was 9-4 as a junior, including beating George Mason in an NCAA Regional start while also winning six SEC starts. He hurled a complete game win against Georgia, striking out 13. As a senior. he again defeated Georgia, earning SEC Pitcher of the Week after a complete game shutout. Dyson finished 6-5, then was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. He's pitched in the majors since 2012 with the Blue Jays, Marlins, Rangers and Giants, saving 38 games for the Rangers in 2016.
Elem Ibiam (women's basketball/center, 2011-15)
Kate Pouliot (softball/pitcher, 2005-08)
Rich Pratt (baseball/pitcher, 1990-93)
Malik Russell (basketball/forward, 1994-96)
Chris Spigner (baseball/pitcher, 1999-02)
– John Parker, gamecockarchives.com
6. ⌚ Key Events (Countdown)
• May 8 – SEC Softball Tourney (1 day)
• May 21 – SEC Baseball Tourney (14)
• July 15 – SEC Media Days begins (69)
• July 20 – Ladies Football Clinic (74)
• Aug. 31 – Football: Gamecocks vs UNC (116)
More happenings
• May 7 – Sumter, Spurs Up Tour
• May 8 – Myrtle Beach, Spurs Up Tour
• May 8 – Marion Gamecock Club meeting
• May 9 – Atlanta, Spurs Up Tour
• May 14 – Charleston, Spurs Up Tour
• May 18 – SC Legends Baseball Camp
Will Muschamp is scheduled to appear at all of the Spurs Up Tour events. More information, including locations and ticket prices, can be found here.
