South Carolina Football: 85 days until kickoff, a look at number 85 CJ Adams

There are 85 days until the start of the South Carolina football season as the Gamecocks will welcome the Old Dominion Monarchs to Columbia for an afternoon contest in Williams-Brice Stadium on August 31st.

#85 on the USC roster is wide receiver CJ Adams. Adams is a redshirt freshman who didn't see any time on the field in 2023. He also missed the spring with an injury.

If Adams is healthy this fall, he will be competing for playing time in a wide receiver room that is much more competitive than it was at the end of last season. Since the 2023 campaign ended, Carolina has added five transfer portal wideouts (Gage Larvadain, Miami (OH) Redhawks; Jared Brown, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers; Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, Louisville Cardinals; Vandrevius Jacobs, Florida State Seminoles; Dalevon Campbell, Nevada Wolfpack) and two from the high school ranks (4-star Mazeo Bennett and 3-star Debron Gatling).

Adams' physical profile is intriguing. Listed at 6'2" and 218 pounds, Adams is also an explosive leaper. He is big enough that some wondered if he could shift to tight end at the college level, but his athleticism kept him in the wide receiver room.

That type of player fits the mold of an outside receiver, and because he is one of just three receivers on the roster taller than 6'1" and one of just two on the team with eligibility beyond this season, Adams could carve out a role in the offense in jump ball/possession situations.

Big-bodied players who can run are major needs on special teams, and that could be a means of Adams getting on the field in 2024. Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis surely will take a look at the big receiver this summer and into fall camp as he attempts to put together his special teams units.