South Carolina Football: What would landing Logan Diggs mean for the Gamecocks?

Arguably the team who has the biggest need at running back through the transfer portal is the South Carolina football program. Arguably the best back still in the portal is Notre Dame transfer Logan Diggs, and the explosive Louisiana native is heavily considering the Gamecocks. It sounds like a match made in heaven as he would almost certainly slide in as the top rusher in a running back room that also has several players who would do well with a few touches per game.

Diggs has only been in the transfer portal for about two weeks, and two destinations seem the most likely to win up with Diggs on their roster when all is said and done. LSU and South Carolina have risen above the other suitors, and both programs have a good story to tell the talented running back.

As a Louisiana native, Diggs grew up an LSU fan, and heading to Baton Rouge would put him closer to home and reunite him with the head coach who recruited him to Notre Dame in Bryan Kelly. South Carolina has a much more open depth chart at the running back position, and Diggs’ NFL dreams seem much more likely to be realized with a heavier workload at Carolina than with the (likely) limited carries in the more crowded LSU backfield.

If the Gamecocks land Diggs, and Diggs wins the starting job out of fall camp, the running back room looks much more like an SEC running back room. South Carolina has several good pieces at the position but lacks the feature back, which Diggs can be. At 6’0″ and 215 pounds, Diggs is a load to bring down, but he also possesses pretty good speed, having run a 4.5 40-yard dash.

With Diggs in the fold, Dakereon Joyner can transition back into the versatile do-it-all role he played at the end of 2022 when he had over 250 yards of offense and four touchdowns over the last five weeks of the season.

Juju McDowell has the most SEC running back experience returning for the Gamecocks, but he is not an every-down back. McDowell is best-utilized in a scatback role that allows him to catch the ball out of the backfield, run stretch plays, and be involved on special teams. Adding Diggs shifts McDowell back into this role.

Mario Anderson is the most complete back on the current roster but is completely unproven at this level having transferred in from Division-II Newberry College. Anderson is a physical runner who could be used in a backup role behind Diggs and can use his strong running style to carve out a nice role as the short-yardage back.

Needless to say, the Gamecocks have made Diggs a priority since he entered his name into the transfer portal. He has not made an official decision date announcement.

Carolina is also in the mix for another transfer portal running back, NC State defection Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.