South Carolina Football: Gamecock senior named preseason All-American

On Friday, the Walter Camp preseason All-American team was announced. South Carolina football legends like Jadeveon Clowney, Alshon Jeffery, and Marcus Lattimore have been named to the preseason All-American teams in the past, and the Gamecocks were represented on the 2023 list.

Punter Kai Kroeger was selected as a preseason first-team All-American, and for those that were paying attention last season, that shouldn’t be a surprise. Kroeger led college football in punts downed inside the 20-yard line, and was among the nation’s leaders in both punt yardage, hangtime, and punt net yardage. His 79-yard bomb in the season opener was also the 4th longest boot of the entire season by any player (he also had a 69-yard field flipper against Vanderbilt).

Arguably the best punter in Gamecock history, Kroeger also has been a weapon throwing the football in his career. He is 6-6 passing in his three years as the South Carolina punter, and he has racked up 173 yards and 3 touchdowns. With another season of Pete Lembo as his special teams coordinator, Kroeger could add to those numbers in 2023.

The rest of the Walter Camp preseason All-American team is listed below:

First-Team

QB: Caleb Williams, Southern Cal

RB: Blake Corum, Michigan

RB: Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss

WR: Marvin Harrison, Jr., Ohio State

WR: Rome Adunze, Washington

TE: Brock Bowers, Georgia

OL: Joe Alt, Notre Dame

OL: Olu Fashanu, Penn State

OL: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State

OL: Graham Barton, Duke

OL: Drake Nugent, Michigan

DL: Jared Verse, Florida State

DL: Jer’Zhan Newton, Illinois

DL: Dontay Corleone: Cincinnati

DL: Bralen Trice, Washington

LB: Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State

LB: Harold Perkins, Jr., LSU

LB: Jeremiah Trotter, Jr., Clemson

DB: Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama

DB: Kamron Kinchens, Miami

DB: Calen Bullock, Southern Cal

DB: Kalen King, Penn State

K: Joshua Karty, Stanford

P: Kai Kroeger, South Carolina

KR: Jaylin Lucas, Indiana

Second-Team

QB: Drake Maye, North Carolina

RB: Braelon Allen, Wisconsin

RB: Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, Arkansas

WR: Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State

WR: Xavier Worthy, Texas

TE: Brevyn Spann-Ford, Minnesota

OL: Zak Zinter, Michigan

OL: Christian Haynes, UConn

OL: Beaux Limmer, Arkansas

OL: JC Latham, Alabama

OL: Zach Frazier, West Virginia

DL: Mykel Williams, Georgia

DL: Mekhi Wingo, LSU

DL: Chop Robinson, Penn State

DL: Leonard Taylor, Miami

LB: Jason Henderson, Old Dominion

LB: Barrett Carter, Clemson

LB: Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Georgia

DB: Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo

DB: Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame

DB: Malaki Starks, Georgia

DB: Cole Bishop, Utah

K: Jonah Dalmas, Boise State

P: Tory Taylor, Iowa

KR: Lideatrick Griffin, Mississippi State