South Carolina Football: Which true freshmen can make an impact in 2023?

South Carolina Football true freshmen who could contribute in 2023:
Defensive Back Vicari Swain

There has been some internal fighting between South Carolina football coaches over where Vicari Swain will play in garnet and black. In high school, Swain was a dynamic wide receiver and an extremely fluid defensive back. The plan, as of now, is for Swain to play defensive back for the Gamecocks, likely at cornerback.

If Swain sticks at corner, he has a shot to impact games as a freshman. Marcellas Dial is pretty secure as the team’s top corner as he had some good moments as the third corner in 2022. O’Donnell Forture is primed to be the second corner but is unproven at the position and has bounced around to different DB spots in the past.

Swain will battle with fellow underclassmen Kajuan Banks, Emory Floyd, and Keenan Nelson and seniors Isaiah Norris and David Spaulding for one of the three corner spots (specifically the nickel position in the case of Spaulding). Judge Collier and Jalon Kilgore are also high-upside true freshmen, but both players likely will play safety.

Ther is a chance Swain could get some snaps at wide receiver or even move to the offensive side of the ball, but the chance is very small. Justin Stepp and Torrian Gray both wanted Swain as part of their positional groups, but according to coach Beamer “Coach Gray won that one…for now.”

You can watch some of his high school film here.