South Carolina Gamecocks 2015 Position Preview: Offensive Line

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Shell

Brandon Shell is a guy that could have gone to any school he wanted out of high school. He was a 4-star rated offensive tackle in the class of 2011 according to the 247Sports Composite. He was ranked the number 9 offensive tackle in the class. He chose to go to South Carolina over offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and Miami. He was one of the prize commits in a class that featured Jadeveon Clowney, Kelcy Quarles, Phillip Dukes, and Damiere Byrd.

Although he redshirted his freshman year, he came out and played amazingly as a reshirt freshman. He started 10 out of 13 games and earned All-Freshman SEC honors along with being named a First-Team Freshman All-American by FoxSportsNext.com.

Shell started every game for the next two seasons. He was named to Phil Steele’s second-team midseason All-SEC team in 2014. He was also a 2014 preseason second-team All-SEC selection by Steele and a third-team pick by the SEC coaches.

Shell is riding a 35 game start streak heading into the game against North Carolina. He was named third team All-SEC by Phil Steele. He will be looked at by coaches and younger players to be the leader of the offensive line. Shell will also make the switch from right tackle to left tackle this season.

Next: Mike Matulis