- DJ Wonnum's absence certainly hurt the Gamecock defense last season. Aside from his own talent, leadership, and experience, not having Wonnum in the lineup last year hurt the Gamecocks' potential for flexibility up front. Then the injuries, beyond even Wonnum's piled up and amplified things.
His presence for 2019's brutal schedule is significant. Even though we know what Wonnum brings to the field, we spent some time watching him on Friday. Unsurprisingly, he assumed the lead position in every bit of the 15 minutes of drill work that we saw.
- At one point, the defensive line split up into two groups - one interior group with coach John Scott Jr. and one with Mike Peterson. The latter consisted of SAM/BUCK types (like Wonnum, Rod Fitten, and Danny Fennell) and also had Joseph Anderson and Jabari Ellis in it. Those two have seen some time as edge type players for USC.
- Tavien Feaster was not at practice today; Clemson's graduation ceremony is today and Feaster is walking after having earned his degree.
- There was a new addition to the tight end corps for Friday's practice. Chandler Farrell, who's been a center or guard for the Gamecocks in the past, was working with the group. It would be safe to say that Farrell could represent a blocking option there, should the opportunity arise. It's unclear if this move is permanent or some type of stopgap.
Nick Muse is still awaiting word on his waiver request, and Kiel Pollard and Traevon Kenion were not at practice on Friday.
- Players working inside the indoor facility with trainers (i.e. limited or banged up players) included Dreak Davis, Brad Johnson, Tyquan Johnson, Keir Thomas, and JJ Enagbare.
From Collyn Taylor:
--Jamyest Williams and JT Ibe weren’t working much with the corners. He spent a lot of time working with the linebackers in the majority of the drills. Williams had a good rep in the strip sack drill, coming off the edge real quickly and getting to the quarterback dummy within about a second. He looks explosive as he ever has.
--Sherrod Greene was still absent again in concussion protocol. Javon Kinlaw was back at practice after being held out earlier this week with an ankle injury.
--Gamecocks start every practice with special teams drills and they did a gunner drill today, essentially like the Oklahoma Drill but on special teams. There’s a returner and then a player tries to tackle him while another guy tries to block him. It gives coaches a chance to see how players compete on special teams:
Jahmar Brown and Jaycee Horn went against each other with Horn keeping Brown away from the ball carrier.
OrTre Smith beat Jamel Cook in his rep, slinging him to the ground. Cam Smith also beat Jammie Robinson on his rep and that earned a big ovation from defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson. Shilo Sanders beat RJ Roderick on a rep, and then they went again after Robinson went off on him and Roderickblew up Sanders in the next one. KeShawn Toney handled Rosendo Louis in his rep as well.
--Jabari Ellis was working with the defensive ends and BUCKs today in practice. He’s bounced around a little bit between there and tackle and will likely play both this season. He was doing some two-point, standup work along with some three-point stance as well.
--After Coleman Hutzler raved about Damani Staley yesterday, I paid a little more attention to him today and he looks a lot quicker and more explosive this camp. He’s moving a lot better this year and Hutzler talked about how he could chisel out more of a role on the linebacker squad this year.
--There were scouts from the Houston Texans and the Los Angeles Rams on hand for practice today.
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