One of the positions that most stands out as a “position of need” moving forward for the South Carolina football program is the EDGE spot. After the 2023 season, the Gamecocks will be losing three seniors from an already pretty thin defensive end group.
Freshman Desmond Umeozulu, sophomore Bryan Thomas, Jr., and junior Jatius Geer are the only non-seniors at the position unless someone changes positions (like defensive tackle Elijah Davis or linebacker Donovan Westmoreland).
It is worth noting that suspended freshman Monteque Rhames has stated that he believes he will be back with South Carolina football at some point in the future. There has been no real information to come out regarding whether or not Rhames’ thoughts hold any validity.
To make matters a little more pressing, South Carolina football currently has no commitments in the class of 2024 that are projected to play on the EDGE.
Dylan Stewart has been the top priority for the Gamecocks at EDGE, but Carolina has been recruiting a few more targets, as well.
One of these players is Georgia product KingJoseph Edwards. Edwards was a major target for South Carolina football earlier in the process but things had seemingly gone quiet in his recruitment.
That appears to be changing.
Edwards has been interacting with Gamecock fans on Twitter recently, including telling one fan that South Carolina is currently in his top-3 schools and is one of the programs recruiting him the hardest.
10. Y’all in my top3
— KingJoseph Edwards (@KingjosephE) July 12, 2023
Even after Gamecock Twitter got all riled up with Edwards’ Wednesday tweet, he wasn’t done teasing South Carolina football fans.
in traffic like 👀👀🤙🏾🐔 pic.twitter.com/eILU02qTwL
— KingJoseph Edwards (@KingjosephE) July 13, 2023
On Thursday, Edwards posted a short video of a car in traffic with a USC license plate.
KingJoseph Edwards also is an interesting prospect as a tight end. At 6’3″ and 240 pounds, he is still a very good athlete and seems very comfortable on offense.
The Gamecocks have a greater need at defensive end/EDGE, but Edwards is capable of becoming a good player on the other side of the ball, as well.
You can watch some of his film here.
EDIT: Since this writing, SportsTalk’s Phil Kornblut has reported that Edwards considers the Gamecocks his current leader.