The 2023 version of the South Carolina football team had one of the worst offensive lines in all of college football. Injuries, inexperience, and flat-out poor play up front doomed the Gamecocks' run game efforts and caused quarterback Spencer Rattler to spend most of his drop backs running for his life.
Recruiting has been strong on the offensive line recently, indicating that the blocking struggles could be coming to an end soon. However, in the modern world of the transfer portal, programs have to recruit for depth as much as top-end talent, meaning "stacking classes" is of utmost importance as teams look to fill their rosters with even more good players than before.
On the offensive line, 5-star Josiah Thompson was joined by 4-stars Kam Pringle and Blake Franks in the 2023 class, and that group of studs followed another three 4-stars in the '22 cycle. Now, looking ahead to the 2025 recruiting class, the Gamecocks are in on several more high-profile players.
Two of their top targets in the class on the offensive line are 4-star prospects Juan Gaston and Jaylen Gilchrist. According to a report from TheBigSpur's Hale McGranahan, both big-time blockers have scheduled their official visits to check out the South Carolina football program.
As a player, Gaston is a huge consensus 4-star tackle who has the strength to be an elite run blocker at the next level and the length and athleticism to develop into a really good pass protector. He is ranked inside the top-150 by every major recruiting outlet.
Gilchrist is a little smaller and is a bit of a "tweener." He is rated by some as a tackle and others as an interior lineman. He is already a solid run blocker, and he has enough athleticism and a strong-enough lower half that pass protection growth seems like a given in his development. He is rated inside the top-80 of three of the four major recruiting outlets.
Gilchrist is set to visit May 31st, while Gaston visits June 6th, the same weekend as 4-star defensive back Jontae Gilbert.
You can watch some of Gaston's film here.
You can watch some of Gilchrist's film here.