South Carolina Football: The transfer portal is opening; what positions do the Gamecocks need to hit hardest?
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football Transfer Portal Needs:
Offensive Line
Most South Carolina football fans know that the Gamecocks are bringing in one of the best offensive line recruiting classes in the country in the ’24 cycle. Offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley also helped sign one of the top classes in the 2023 class, as well.
Those players will all be freshmen and sophomores next season, and as was demonstrated by the line’s struggles this season with young players on the field, experience could be beneficial to a Gamecock offense that struggled to run the ball and protect quarterback Spencer Rattler this year.
USC has a lot of scholarship offensive linemen on the roster, but there are not many who have shown the ability to play consistently well in the SEC. It would be unsurprising to see several offensive linemen leave the program through the portal, but it seems like a virtual guarantee that the team will add a veteran transfer.
There are multiple veterans on the roster who have played a lot of football at the University of South Carolina. The versatile Vershon Lee likely will start somewhere next year, Jaylen Nichols and Cason Henry hope to get healthy after knee injuries, Jakai Moore and Tyshawn Wannamaker have experience at guard and tackle, and Trai Jones has played all three interior spots.
Incoming freshmen Josiah Thompson, Kam Pringle, and Blake Franks have the chance to be really good at the college level, and current freshmen Tree Babalade, Tro Baugh, Jatavius Shivers, and Markee Anderson do, as well.
But between the veterans’ struggles and the young players needing more seasoning, attacking the transfer portal could be the answer to the widely-asked question of “What can the Gamecocks do to improve this horrible offensive line?”