South Carolina football: PFF ranks college quarterbacks heading into 2021
By Jacob Elsey
Where does South Carolina football’s QB rank?
The South Carolina football season is right around the corner, and while we may have an idea of who will be taking the first snap under center for the Gamecocks in 2021, everyone can agree that the team will be young at quarterback.
Luke Doty looks to lead the Gamecocks in his sophomore season after finishing the 2020 campaign as the team’s leader. Doty took over for Collin Hill midway through the Missouri contest, and in 2.5 games of action, the passer threw for 405 yards and two scores, connecting on 43-of-71 attempts. He also added 91 yards on the ground and showed flashes of his dual threat abilities.
While there were some positives to be taken from his overall performance, his play still leaves something to be desired. Doty needs to work on his footwork, and staying in the pocket to allow plays to develop. He also needs to improve his downfield passing to keep opposing defenses from keying in on a potent South Carolina rushing attack.
With that being said, where does Doty rank in comparison to the rest of the nation’s signal callers?
Pro Football Focus recently released their rankings of all 130 starting quarterbacks ahead of the 2021 season. South Carolina’s passer came in at No. 125. That positioning put him near the bottom of all of college football, linking Doty in with a group that PFF calls Tier Six: Needs Significant Improvement.
The site sees the Gamecock signal caller as being a player “marred by past poor play” that seems an unlikely candidate to lead a successful offense next season.
It’s certainly not what South Carolina fans want to hear about their team leader just a couple of months away from opening day. What’s more concerning, the Gamecocks haven’t found a reliable option at wide receiver, and will be without top target Shi Smith. Returning is Nick Muse, the only player on the team with more than 200 receiving yards last season, and a host of unproven pass catchers.
There were a couple of other familiar names to Gamecock fans as former quarterbacks Jake Bentley and Ryan Hilinski also made the list, coming in at No. 107 and No. 116, respectively.
The South Carolina coaching staff will hope to see better performance on the field than these preseason projections. The Gamecocks will get underway on September 4th under the lights of Williams-Brice Stadium as the season kicks off versus Eastern Illinois.