South Carolina football alum Darius Rush arrived at USC without a lot of fanfare, but after some time developing, he became a star in garnet and black and, eventually, became one of the best cover corners ever to play for the Gamecocks.
It looks like a similar story could be starting to play out for the Palmetto State native in the NFL.
Rush was a 5th-round selection of the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft, and despite flashing some big-play ability in the preseason, the former Gamecock was let go by the Colts. A player with his ability doesn't stay a free agent for long, and the Kansas City Chiefs quickly snatched him up off of waivers. However, due to roster constraints, he didn't stick with KC, either.
Rush finished the season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he played a significant role in one game while filling in at cornerback due to injuries to incumbent defensive backs. After that, his role was smaller, but he did enough to have the team eager to bring him back for another season.
This offseason, though, has been a big one for Rush, and reports out of the Steel City have been all positive about Rush and his development as a player. In fact, Sports Illustrated's Pittsburgh Steelers site All Steelers and podcast host Stephen Thompson named Darius Rush the team's MVP of OTAs. Rush has been so good that he has contributed to what All Steelers has called a "slow start" to camp for Steelers quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
If Rush's strong spring can translate to even further development this summer, the 2nd-year cornerback will put himself into strong consideration to start for the Steelers and make a real impact as an NFL player, the "next up" in a long line of Gamecock greats to go on to excellent NFL careers in the secondary.