South Carolina Football: Gamecocks land defensive back prospect from Peach State

South Carolina football has been lighting up the notifications of the Gamecock fanbase with wave after wave of recruiting news in recent days. After two big recruiting weekends, Carolina has had six total commitments to the program since Friday, and athlete Jaquel Holman and EDGE Kobby Sakyi-Prah went public with their commitments on Saturday and Monday, respectively.

The sixth of these pledges came in on Tuesday morning, and it didn't take long for him to reveal himself (there still remain three unannounced #WelcomeHome commitments from the weekend).

After Gamecock head coach Shane Beamer posted a #WelcomeHome on social media, class of 2024 Georgia defensive back Chris Hatfield came forward, also announcing his commitment online in conjunction with GamecockCentral's Wes Mitchell.

As a player, Hatfield is rated as a corner by On3, 247Sports, and ESPN but is listed as a safety by Rivals. He has experience at both positions, and with how much South Carolina football defensive backs coach Torrian Gray likes to cross-train players, Hatfield's final position might not be known for some time.

Hatfield is a consensus 3-star player from Long County High School in Georgia. He fits the archetype of what Gray wants in a defensive back: he's tall (listed at 6'2" or 6'3"), he's got long arms, he's versatile, and he doesn't mind coming downhill to help out in run support.

He also is the type of defensive back who gets his head back around to look for the ball, a trait that has been lost on many modern defensive backs. Because of this, he has been a playmaker on the back end for his Long County team, coming up with interceptions and deflected passes at a rate.

Hatfield also is a former quarterback. The Gamecocks have had several former quarterbacks become good secondary players at the college level, including current safety DQ Smith. Hatfield's time under center on offense will give him a better perspective on quarterback reads while he is in coverage than many other defensive backs.

You can watch some of his film here.