The Future Is Now: South Carolina football freshmen who are ready to help right now
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football freshmen ready to help right now:
Defensive Back Jalon Kilgore
Arguably the most proven quantity of the Gamecock freshmen, defensive back Jalon Kilgore has shown himself to be a good enough tackler and run-stopper to play in the SEC.
With Freshman All-American safety Nick Emmanwori sidelined for pretty much all of the Gamecocks’ first two games of the season, Kilgore has performed very well and could be in the midst of USC’s third Freshman All-American safety season in the last two years (joining Emmanwori and DQ Smith from 2022).
Kilgore has SEC size already, and he will only get better in the passing game as he gets more experience. That experience should continue even after Emmanwori is back from his hamstring injury. Fellow safety DQ Smith has the versatility to play some at nickel, and the Gamecocks have not had consistent production there yet in the early goings of the 2023 season.
South Carolina football fans should not be surprised if a healthy Emmanwori and Kilgore end the year as the starting safeties, and Smith ends up as the starting nickel. With all three of those players being either freshmen or sophomores, that combination could be three-fifths of the starting defensive backfield in Columbia for years to come.