South Carolina Football: Gamecocks land HUGE commitment from elite linebacker recruit

On Wednesday, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer posted on Twitter/X one of his #WelcomeHome commitment teases, but he revealed that the player was from the class of 2026, marking the program's second pledge from the '26 cycle (joining 4-star quarterback Landon Duckworth).

It only took a few hours for the commitment to come forward. According to a report from On3's Hayes Fawcett, elite linebacker prospect Rodney Colton is the newest member of the South Carolina football class of 2026 recruiting class.

Colton chose the Gamecocks over the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs. He is ranked by On3 as the #2 linebacker in the class of 2026 and is a consensus 4-star prospect.

As a player for the Newnan High School Cougars, Colton has flashed some big-time ability as a versatile linebacker. Primarily playing as an outside 'backer, he has a nose for the football and has really good pursuit angle instincts.

Already a pretty linebacker by high school standards (listed at 220 pounds), Colton still has enough speed to play the position at the college level, and he seems to enjoy coming downhill and knifing through blockers to make plays in the backfield.

Colton missed much of his sophomore year with an injury, so there is still plenty of evaluation to be done on him as a player, but his freshman film does not look like the typical freshman film.

The Gamecock coaching staff liked what they saw from him and are optimistic about what he will look like in two years, so they offered him a scholarship while he was on campus for the Garnet and Black Spring Game. Colton liked what he saw from the coaching staff and the program and didn't wait long before jumping in the boat.

You can watch some of his film here.