W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
South Carolina football is officially back.
The Gamecocks hit the practice fields Friday morning beneath a light but steady rain for Day 1 of preseason camp and the media was allowed in for stretching and the first five periods of practice. Before you ask, no we didn't get to see any actual 1-on-1s, so that limits the answers to questions about who looked good today during any actual football plays, but there's still plenty we can take away from observing the 2021 Gamecocks for the first time.
** After watching South Carolina's spring practice roster slowly reduce in size due to injuries during that portion of preseason, my first thought was that the Gamecocks appeared to actually have some depth to work with on the practice fields Friday. Don't confuse that with me saying this is a team that's "deep" as far as guys who are going to contribute on the field - that part remains to be seen - but in terms of being able to work guys in and out of reps at practice, there's just simply a more complete team out there right now after missing over 20 guys by the end of spring.
Sure there are still some guys banged up, namely Kevin Harris and Cam Smith among projected starters, but it was a welcome sight I'm sure for the coaches to see guys like Jordan Strachan and Xavier Legette back out there practicing after missing a ton of time in the spring.
There was probably no better sight, though, than that of running back MarShawn Lloyd who was wearing a brace but otherwise showed no other signs of the knee injury that forced him to miss all of his true freshman season. Lloyd told us yesterday that he has no lingering mental doubts about the knee when he cuts on it and he appeared to be full go in this morning's practice. There's been a growing buzz that people outside of the program aren't talking about Lloyd near enough after he was the talk of the team going into last season. My guess is Lloyd becomes the guy you hear a ton about over the next month or so.
** It probably comes as no surprise, especially with Cam Smith out, but it's still noteworthy that Karon Prunty was working with the first team on Friday. I suppose there was always the possibility that Prunty would be forced to work his way up the depth chart after arriving a few weeks ago but as we've said multiple different ways from the second the Gamecocks landed the transfer, it would take a real upset for him not to be a starter this season. It seems as if he's already headed towards that and the reports I've heard on the player-run-practice side of things have been very positive for his ability.
** Frankly there weren't really any surprises across the board on who was out there first on defense, as typically the older, returnees are going to get the edge and it's up to the newcomers and younger players to take their spots:
S: RJ Roderick, Jaylan Foster
CB: Prunty, Marcellas Dial
N: David Spaulding
LB: Sherrod Greene, Brad Johnson
DT: Zacch Pickens, Jabari Ellis
EDGE: JJ Enagbare, Aaron Sterling
The second-team defense appeared to consist of:
S: Jahmar Brown, Jaylin Dickerson
CB: Dom Hill, Darius Rush
N: Carlins Platel
LB: Damani Staley, Debo Williams
DT: Tonka Hemingway, Rick Sandidge
EDGE: Jordan Burch, Jordan Strachan
** JUCO LB Bam Scott was dressed out during the stretch period and some of the circuit drill work at the beginning but, as expected, was being held out of other parts of the workout. Scott is a bit taller and longer than I expected. He's going to need to continue to add some muscle in my opinion but I can see why he's always been such a good pass-rusher off the edge from his linebacker spot with his long arms.
It's going to take a lot for TJ Sanders to break into the rotation as a true freshman, considering what South Carolina has on the interior but man he looks the part from a physical standpoint. I can't place exactly who he reminds me of at this point but I think he's a kid to circle for the future. He already appears close to defensive tackle playing weight and is light on his feet and appeared to be taking coaching well from Jimmy Lindsey.
Linebacker Rosendo Louis was working with the third team at LB and appeared noticeably more slim than he's been in the past.
** I can't help but think about the stark contrast of the situation Luke Doty is in now as the team's first-team QB compared to last year when he was a third-team freshman QB who was also playing wide out.
To be clear, Doty is the same person he was then. He's really not the type to let all of the attention go to his head. But I couldn't help but notice how calm, confident and in command he seemed when fielding questions from the media yesterday and also how he's continued to transform his body from a physical standpoint.
Doty has always been an impressive dude physically but you can tell he's been in a college weight program for a full year-plus now.
To the surprise of no one paying attention, Doty was the first-team quarterback in Friday's practice.
The Gamecocks hit the practice fields Friday morning beneath a light but steady rain for Day 1 of preseason camp and the media was allowed in for stretching and the first five periods of practice. Before you ask, no we didn't get to see any actual 1-on-1s, so that limits the answers to questions about who looked good today during any actual football plays, but there's still plenty we can take away from observing the 2021 Gamecocks for the first time.
** After watching South Carolina's spring practice roster slowly reduce in size due to injuries during that portion of preseason, my first thought was that the Gamecocks appeared to actually have some depth to work with on the practice fields Friday. Don't confuse that with me saying this is a team that's "deep" as far as guys who are going to contribute on the field - that part remains to be seen - but in terms of being able to work guys in and out of reps at practice, there's just simply a more complete team out there right now after missing over 20 guys by the end of spring.
Sure there are still some guys banged up, namely Kevin Harris and Cam Smith among projected starters, but it was a welcome sight I'm sure for the coaches to see guys like Jordan Strachan and Xavier Legette back out there practicing after missing a ton of time in the spring.
There was probably no better sight, though, than that of running back MarShawn Lloyd who was wearing a brace but otherwise showed no other signs of the knee injury that forced him to miss all of his true freshman season. Lloyd told us yesterday that he has no lingering mental doubts about the knee when he cuts on it and he appeared to be full go in this morning's practice. There's been a growing buzz that people outside of the program aren't talking about Lloyd near enough after he was the talk of the team going into last season. My guess is Lloyd becomes the guy you hear a ton about over the next month or so.
** It probably comes as no surprise, especially with Cam Smith out, but it's still noteworthy that Karon Prunty was working with the first team on Friday. I suppose there was always the possibility that Prunty would be forced to work his way up the depth chart after arriving a few weeks ago but as we've said multiple different ways from the second the Gamecocks landed the transfer, it would take a real upset for him not to be a starter this season. It seems as if he's already headed towards that and the reports I've heard on the player-run-practice side of things have been very positive for his ability.
** Frankly there weren't really any surprises across the board on who was out there first on defense, as typically the older, returnees are going to get the edge and it's up to the newcomers and younger players to take their spots:
S: RJ Roderick, Jaylan Foster
CB: Prunty, Marcellas Dial
N: David Spaulding
LB: Sherrod Greene, Brad Johnson
DT: Zacch Pickens, Jabari Ellis
EDGE: JJ Enagbare, Aaron Sterling
The second-team defense appeared to consist of:
S: Jahmar Brown, Jaylin Dickerson
CB: Dom Hill, Darius Rush
N: Carlins Platel
LB: Damani Staley, Debo Williams
DT: Tonka Hemingway, Rick Sandidge
EDGE: Jordan Burch, Jordan Strachan
** JUCO LB Bam Scott was dressed out during the stretch period and some of the circuit drill work at the beginning but, as expected, was being held out of other parts of the workout. Scott is a bit taller and longer than I expected. He's going to need to continue to add some muscle in my opinion but I can see why he's always been such a good pass-rusher off the edge from his linebacker spot with his long arms.
It's going to take a lot for TJ Sanders to break into the rotation as a true freshman, considering what South Carolina has on the interior but man he looks the part from a physical standpoint. I can't place exactly who he reminds me of at this point but I think he's a kid to circle for the future. He already appears close to defensive tackle playing weight and is light on his feet and appeared to be taking coaching well from Jimmy Lindsey.
Linebacker Rosendo Louis was working with the third team at LB and appeared noticeably more slim than he's been in the past.
** I can't help but think about the stark contrast of the situation Luke Doty is in now as the team's first-team QB compared to last year when he was a third-team freshman QB who was also playing wide out.
To be clear, Doty is the same person he was then. He's really not the type to let all of the attention go to his head. But I couldn't help but notice how calm, confident and in command he seemed when fielding questions from the media yesterday and also how he's continued to transform his body from a physical standpoint.
Doty has always been an impressive dude physically but you can tell he's been in a college weight program for a full year-plus now.
To the surprise of no one paying attention, Doty was the first-team quarterback in Friday's practice.
