South Carolina football: ranking each position group

Ranking South Carolina football’s position groups

DB

This group was one of the team’s strongest heading into 2020, but a mass exodus of contributors has depleted the roster. Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu are off to the NFL after electing to skip their senior seasons. Horn was the first defensive player taken in the draft, while Mukuamu was picked up in the later rounds by Dallas.

Also gone are John Dixon, Jammie Robinson, and Shilo Sanders, all of whom transferred for greener pastures. That leaves the Gamecocks with just one player in the secondary who was in last year’s opening day starting lineup.

Cam Smith, Jaylan Foster, and RJ Roderick have seen the most time, and all three figure to be in the rotation. Smith is the top candidate to take over for Horn at corner, while Foster and Roderick will filter in at safety. The remainder of the roster is unproven, though safety Jaylin Dickerson has shown promise when healthy.

The key to this group will be the incoming transfers. Karon Prunty, David Spaulding, Tyrese Ross, and Carlins Platel come to Columbia from Kansas, Georgia Southern, Washington State, and Assumption University, respectively.

Prunty was a freshman All-American with the Jayhawks after leading all rookie defensive backs in passes defended last year. He will be another starting candidate at cornerback, though it will come down to his ability to pick up the playbook. He arrived to campus latest of these four additions.

The player that’s been around the longest is David Spaulding, who enrolled in January. Spaulding played sparingly at Georgia Southern but made big impacts in his only career start. That came in last year’s bowl game versus Appalachian State, where he tallied four tackles and returned an interception for a score.

Platel and Ross both joined the roster in the Summer, and will look to make a name for themselves in the secondary. Ross played 11 games at Washington State over the last two seasons, recording 35 tackles and a forced fumble. Meanwhile, Platel comes in after picking off seven passes at the Division II level for Assumption. He was an All-NE10 performer and led the conference in pass breakups.

There are some options, but very little SEC experience. If this group can make some unexpected impacts on the field next season, the defensive outlook will improve tremendously.