*** South Carolina wrapped spring practice number one on Saturday, and GamecockCentral.com was able to observe the stretch phase, plus first few periods of practice work.
*** One encouraging sign for the Gamecocks was the fact that several players who have had issues with health/injuries were back on the field fully participating.
OrTre Smith was one of the most notable in that category, moving around well on the field with no signs of trouble and no brace.
Receiver Chad Terrell was sporting a brace (he’s had a pair of ACL surgeries), but as we said, had a quality offseason in terms of improving his speed metrics.
Veteran receiver Randrecous Davis was working with the rehabilitating players inside the indoor facility, but we don’t have any details on what may be going on there just yet.
At linebacker, Sherrod Greene, who missed most of last season, plus Jahmar Brown (ditto, played in just one game last season), and Rosendo Louis were all full participants. South Carolina faces a situation in which it needs depth at linebacker, so this is positive for this group to have more availability during spring.
*** I’ll throw my hat in the ring of making the obligatory comment about EJ Jenkins’ size.
Jenkins has made an impression on the staff in the offseason due not only to his size to athleticism ratio displayed during the competitive conditioning periods, but also for his attitude and disposition. He’s been described to us as “hungry”, and South Carolina has had him in the tight end room for a decent period now. He’s a guy that can be flexed out and that the offensive staff will look to find some mismatches for as a tight end.
*** Speaking of tight end, I saw Traevon Kenion out there on Saturday (he’s missed a decent amount of practice time at South Carolina over his first couple seasons) and he looked good from a physical standpoint. He’s someone we really liked as a pass-catcher coming out of high school, but things have never come together for him at South Carolina. He’s five pounds bigger this spring – up to 245 – so let’s see what the future holds with his reps likely increasing this spring.
*** One note that Wes Mitchell passed along in his pre-spring Carolina Confidential was this: new special teams coordinator Pete Lembo was bringing some new ideas, concepts, and drills to the table that folks around here just haven’t seen previously.
We got a little glimpse of that on Saturday, just with some of the drill work that was going on starting with the first practice period. One of them featured players holding something like a PVC bar across the back of their neck (like a squat bar), then going through cones.
Lembo and head coach Shane Beamer were both with one group during the first special teams period, highly engaged.
*** Jaylen Nichols is someone that – when he was recruited previously – was thought of as a guy that could play guard or tackle. While his experience thus far at South Carolina has been at tackle, he was with the first team group at left guard on Saturday.
If Nichols ends up being the guy there, he has big shoes to fill in replacing Sadarius Hutcherson. However, his – or someone else’s – emergence there could help an offensive line that returns four of five starters and showed some ability last season.
Jakai Moore was dressed but not full go on Saturday, but I have to wonder if he could also draw a look at guard.
*** To add some color to what Wes has already passed along on the interior defensive line (i.e. Tonka Hemingway is working with that group now), South Carolina seems in a similar position to last season as to which players need to step up there.
Hemingway’s addition to that group, with what he did as a true freshman, is intriguing and could add more playmaking ability.
However, the guy that has been circled to me by some sources is junior Zacch Pickens. His emergence – and he’s shown flashes – would be significant for this defense line. An uptick in production from Rick Sandidge would be big as well.
Jabari Ellis, it’s pretty apparent, is the leader of this group up front and is back up to a better weight after playing last season at about 265 pounds.
*** One encouraging sign for the Gamecocks was the fact that several players who have had issues with health/injuries were back on the field fully participating.
OrTre Smith was one of the most notable in that category, moving around well on the field with no signs of trouble and no brace.
Receiver Chad Terrell was sporting a brace (he’s had a pair of ACL surgeries), but as we said, had a quality offseason in terms of improving his speed metrics.
Veteran receiver Randrecous Davis was working with the rehabilitating players inside the indoor facility, but we don’t have any details on what may be going on there just yet.
At linebacker, Sherrod Greene, who missed most of last season, plus Jahmar Brown (ditto, played in just one game last season), and Rosendo Louis were all full participants. South Carolina faces a situation in which it needs depth at linebacker, so this is positive for this group to have more availability during spring.
*** I’ll throw my hat in the ring of making the obligatory comment about EJ Jenkins’ size.
Jenkins has made an impression on the staff in the offseason due not only to his size to athleticism ratio displayed during the competitive conditioning periods, but also for his attitude and disposition. He’s been described to us as “hungry”, and South Carolina has had him in the tight end room for a decent period now. He’s a guy that can be flexed out and that the offensive staff will look to find some mismatches for as a tight end.
*** Speaking of tight end, I saw Traevon Kenion out there on Saturday (he’s missed a decent amount of practice time at South Carolina over his first couple seasons) and he looked good from a physical standpoint. He’s someone we really liked as a pass-catcher coming out of high school, but things have never come together for him at South Carolina. He’s five pounds bigger this spring – up to 245 – so let’s see what the future holds with his reps likely increasing this spring.
*** One note that Wes Mitchell passed along in his pre-spring Carolina Confidential was this: new special teams coordinator Pete Lembo was bringing some new ideas, concepts, and drills to the table that folks around here just haven’t seen previously.
We got a little glimpse of that on Saturday, just with some of the drill work that was going on starting with the first practice period. One of them featured players holding something like a PVC bar across the back of their neck (like a squat bar), then going through cones.
Lembo and head coach Shane Beamer were both with one group during the first special teams period, highly engaged.
*** Jaylen Nichols is someone that – when he was recruited previously – was thought of as a guy that could play guard or tackle. While his experience thus far at South Carolina has been at tackle, he was with the first team group at left guard on Saturday.
If Nichols ends up being the guy there, he has big shoes to fill in replacing Sadarius Hutcherson. However, his – or someone else’s – emergence there could help an offensive line that returns four of five starters and showed some ability last season.
Jakai Moore was dressed but not full go on Saturday, but I have to wonder if he could also draw a look at guard.
*** To add some color to what Wes has already passed along on the interior defensive line (i.e. Tonka Hemingway is working with that group now), South Carolina seems in a similar position to last season as to which players need to step up there.
Hemingway’s addition to that group, with what he did as a true freshman, is intriguing and could add more playmaking ability.
However, the guy that has been circled to me by some sources is junior Zacch Pickens. His emergence – and he’s shown flashes – would be significant for this defense line. An uptick in production from Rick Sandidge would be big as well.
Jabari Ellis, it’s pretty apparent, is the leader of this group up front and is back up to a better weight after playing last season at about 265 pounds.
