South Carolina Football: Elite quarterback prospect commits to Gamecocks

The first weekend of August was set to be a big weekend for South Carolina football recruiting, After the Gamecocks missed out on 4-star receiver Jonathan Paylor on Friday, Saturday came with good news.

South Carolina football does not have a commitment in the class of 2025 yet. They do, however, have their first pledge for the class of 2026. On Saturday after a few delays pushing the announcement back, Landon Duckworth announced on his personal Twitter account that he would be the quarterback of the future for Shane Beamer’s Gamecock program.

Duckworth’s USC commitment is still almost two and a half years from his actual Signing Day, so his recruitment is far from over. For perspective, he is so young that South Carolina football’s true freshman class that just began their first fall camp on Friday will be seniors by the time he arrives on campus.

Duckworth has not even started his sophomore year of high school so he does not yet have an official rating from the major recruiting services, but he has started to bring in some big-time offers including South Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, TCU, Mississippi State, and Nebraska.

As a player, “Duck,” as he is affectionately nicknamed, has some impressive film. In his freshman year at Jackson High School, he displayed a strong throwing arm with the ability to throw from multiple arm slots (though his mechanics when throwing from the pocket need refining). Duckworth is also a very good athlete who can run the ball when his number is called.

At 6’3″ and 195 pounds, Duckworth is filling out nicely. His frame also looks as it if could easily add some more good weight so that he can hold up physically as a dual-threat quarterback in the SEC. If he can maintain his speed through the weight gain (and his overall athleticism indicates that he can), Duckworth will only get better and better as he and his arm continue to grow.

You can watch some of his film here.