South Carolina Football: 10 things to look for during Saturday’s spring game
By Kevin Miller
No. 9: South Carolina Football’s future at quarterback could be on display on Saturday
Spencer Rattler will be the starter at quarterback for the Gamecocks this fall. Beyond Rattler on the depth chart sits numerous 4-star quarterback recruits with multiple years of eligibility remaining. Any and all of them could see some snaps on Saturday as Rattler likely won’t play more than a few series.
Dakereon Joyner is not really a quarterback anymore, but he will probably see some snaps at wildcat this season and might take some direct snaps on Saturday. He is expected to spend most or all of his spring game at running back.
The oldest and most-experienced of the full-time quarterbacks is Luke Doty. Doty started several games in 2020 and 2021 and was the backup last season. He is technically a redshirt sophomore despite being in his fourth year of college because of a redshirt taken in 2022 and the “Covid redshirt” of 2020. He is expected to be the “starting quarterback” of whichever team Spencer Rattler is not placed on for the spring game.
Colten Gauthier is the next oldest player. Now in his third year in the program, Gauthier has not seen much game action but was highly-touted coming out of high school.
Tanner Bailey was part of the 2022 recruiting class but didn’t enroll until the summer, making this his first spring in the program. He is extremely talented and considered one of the most realistic future options under center after Rattler heads to the NFL next offseason.
Braden Davis was also part of the 2022 recruiting class. He was an extremely raw prospect who still has a ways to go before being ready to play at the SEC level. However, Davis has a very high ceiling if things fall his way.
LaNorris Sellers is a freak. A true freshman who enrolled early this January, he is capable of throwing the football 60 yards “with just a flick of his wrist” (according to tight end Trey Knox) and has run 40-yard dash times in the 4.4s and 4.5s despite weighing over 230 pounds. Reports from inside the program this offseason have said he is also more game-ready than he was expected to be when he arrived on campus. Don’t be surprised to see Sellers play a lot on Saturday.