South Carolina Football: 10 observations from fall practice so far
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s Fall Camp Observations:
The Gamecock secondary will utilize both experienced and new faces to fill the gaps left by Cam Smith and Darius Rush.
No team could possibly replace two NFL corners like Cam Smith and Darius Rush without any issue whatsoever. With that said, the Gamecock defensive back group is confident they can come close. Blending together a unique blend of experience and young talent, the Carolina secondary could be a deep group in 2023.
It will be extremely difficult for the Gamecocks to perform as well at the starting spots in the defensive backfield as they did a year ago. The team’s two starting corners were NFL Draft picks who may start as rookies, the two starting safeties were both Freshman All-Americans, and the third corner had good flashes inside at nickel and outside as a traditional corner.
Now, that third corner from last year (Marcellas Dial) will be the team’s top cover option, and unproven South Carolina native O’Donnell Fortune is the current favorite to start on the other side. The two Freshman All-Americans are back at safety, but without the lockdown work of Smith and Rush, their jobs will be harder in 2023.
Freshmen Jalen Kilgore (safety) and Vicari Swain (cornerback) have been extremely impressive both in workouts and in the early goings of fall camp. They will see time this year. Less-heralded defensive back prospect Judge Collier has also been impressive when he has repped with the reserves at both corner and safety.
Oft-injured David Spaulding is back and will play a lot at nickel (likely as the starter) if he is ready to go. Sophomores Kajuan Banks, Emory Floyd, Keenan Nelson, and Peyton Williams all will have chances to put themselves in the 2-deep across the secondary, as well.
For those counting at home, the projected starters are two underclassmen and three players in their 4th or 5th years of college. Of the next 8 players who could see time in the secondary, 7 are freshmen or sophomores. Seeing which players emerge out of the combination of experience and young talent will be an interesting subplot to monitor throughout the fall and into the season.