South Carolina football: who replaces Jaycee Horn?

South Carolina football has to replace its 1st rd pick.

South Carolina had the task of replacing first round draft pick Javon Kinlaw in 2020, after the big man was selected by the San Francisco 49ers last April. This time around, the Gamecocks will be forced to replace another talented defender in what’s looking to be the team’s thinnest position room.

Jaycee Horn was the first defensive player chosen in last month’s draft, going at No. 8 to the hometown Carolina Panthers. He became the seventh player in program history to be taken in the top 10, and the 15th to be a first round selection.

Those will certainly be big shoes to fill. Who jumps in to fill the void in the 2021 season? There are some candidates in the defensive backfield, but it’s a group that’s lacking experience. South Carolina had three members of its secondary transfer out of the program following Will Muschamp’s dismissal, as well as saw Horn’s teammate Israel Mukuamu be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys.

That leaves a cornerback room that returns just four starts at the Division I level. Sophomore Cam Smith is responsible for three of those, while incoming transfer David Spaulding picked up a start as a member of the Georgia Southern football team a year ago.

With the secondary competition apparently wide open, it’s hard to project the player that will come in to replace Horn. FanSided’s Cody Williams gave his best bet, though, as he projected the replacements for every single first round pick in last year’s draft.

Here’s what he had to say about Horn and the Gamecocks, specifically.

"8. Replacing Jaycee Horn at South Carolina: Cam Smith or Dominick HillFirst-year head coach Shane Beamer does not have a fun task when it comes to the Gamecocks secondary as he’s essentially looking to fill holes all over the back end of the defense. Cam Smith has the most experience of anyone on the roster but, even then, he has just three starts to his credit.Dominick Hill could be a challenger for the No. 1 cornerback role too but the truth of the matter is South Carolina is basically in the midst of open tryouts for how they’re going to build their 2021 defensive back group."

Williams follows the experience of Cam Smith in being Horn’s replacement, which is probably the safest bet. Smith has seen the most playing time of anyone in the secondary, and even picked up a pair of interceptions last year to tie for the team lead.

Williams isn’t the only one predicting an increase in Smith’s playing time. Brad Crawford of 247 Sports tabbed the corner as one of the SEC’s rising stars earlier this offseason.

The Gamecocks need a big year from Smith and the rest of the secondary if they look to improve a defense that allowed 36 points and 451 yards per game last season.