Offseason workouts are still underway and, thanks to the college football oversight committee there could be on-field practices coming in a few months.
With it comes the resumption of a few key position battles, arguably none more important offensively than the center spot vacated by Donell Stanley.
Below is a breakdown of a few candidates.
Hank Manos
Manos is one of the three main guys who were competing for the job before spring practice ended and will continue to rep there once on-field work resumes hopefully sometime in July.
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Manos has started two career games at South Carolina—the Belk Bowl and the opener against North Carolina last season—before Donell Stanley took over at center.
A high school wrestler, he needed to gain weight once arriving on campus and is still doing that as he enters his redshirt sophomore season.
Once things resume and practices are able to start Manos should continue to be in the thick of the competition to win the starting job.
Eric Douglas
Douglas is probably the most versatile piece of the Gamecocks' offensive line, taking reps at center and guard primarily but also can fill in at left tackle as well but started getting more looks at center this spring and was taking first-team reps in the five practices before things shut down.
Entering the spring he was up 310 pounds and listed at 6-foot-4.
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He played in nine games last season and, even if he doesn't earn the starting job, he's going to be the backup at a lot of different positions this season because of his position versatility.
Vincent Murphy
Murphy came in last season and didn't play much—just one game—playing behind Stanley at the center spot. Now, in his redshirt freshman year, he's listed at 6-foot-2, 295 pounds and will settle at either center or guard.
He was one of the lead candidates to take over at center behind Manos and Douglas and will continue taking reps at both guard and center this summer before the season starts.
Jovaughn Gwyn
Gwyn is an interesting candidate since he started 11 games last season at right guard, but the Gamecocks could opt to bounce him further inside to center to try and get what they think is their best five guys on the field at the same time.
He's taken some reps at center this spring and in his time at South Carolina but could settle more at guard. The next few weeks and his performance during summer workouts and preseason camp should settle that.
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Trai Jones
Jones is a little bit of a long shot as a freshman, but he's a guy the staff thinks has a chance to be good but he's still young and still need to learn the system.
He'll continue to get reps but it looks like there's more experience guys ahead of him.
