South Carolina football had five players drafted in the 2023 NFL Draft. Cam Smith went 51st overall to the Miami Dolphins, Zacch Pickens was drafted by the Chicago Bears with the 64th pick, and Darius Rush was taken off the board as a later-than-expected 5th-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts. Jovaughn Gwyn and Jalen Brooks each got picked in the 7th round by the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys, respectively. It didn’t take long after the draft for another Gamecock to get his NFL opportunity.
Josh Vann, the Gamecocks’ leading receiver in 2021, signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers.
Vann is one of the best “he got better” stories in recent Gamecock memory. A highly-touted wide receiver prospect out of Georgia in the class of 2018, Vann was labeled a bust by many fans as he had under 400 yards and almost 10x more drops than touchdowns combined during his first three seasons in Columbia.
He turned things around in 2021 as he became Carolina’s best receiver, and his just-under-1000 yards and 8 touchdowns were each the most for the Gamecocks over the last two seasons, despite being hurt part of the time. Vann went from maligned by the fanbase to beloved as he corrected his drops issues, worked to get faster, and became the type of player who stepped up in big moments (128 yards and a touchdown against #2 Georgia in 2021, 2 touchdowns against #5 Tennessee in 2022).
Now with the just over an hour north of Columbia with the Panthers, Vann will be in a wide receiver room that has lots of players vying for a roster spot. His clearest path to the field early will likely be special teams. Vann was one of the nation’s top punt returners in 2022 based on average length of return, and he saw some snaps as a gunner on both kickoff and punt coverage teams. If he can make the team, Vann proved himself at South Carolina to be dependable enough that he could fight his way into the receiver rotation.