GamecockCentral.com's Complete Roster Breakdown
In advance of the 2018 season, GamecockCentral.com is bringing its readers the first annual Complete Roster Breakdown.
This feature will give South Carolina fans an in-depth look at South Carolina's 2018 football roster, position-by-position.
How do the starters stack up in the conference? Which youngsters and backups will play key roles? What's the depth look like at each spot?
Enjoy the read!
| PLAYER | STATUS GOING INTO THE OPENER |
|---|---|
|
Jake Bentley |
The clear-cut number one option as USC's incumbent. Bentley has had some moments of brilliance during his time in Columbia, something the staff is hoping to tap into more during his junior campaign. |
|
Michael Scarnecchia |
This fifth-year senior has been around for quite a while, but still is inexperienced in terms of on-field play. He's impressed the staff this offseason with his ability to operate the offense and has made some impressive throws. It's not just idle chatter by the staff; the coaches do like what they have seen from Scarnecchia. |
|
Jay Urich |
A converted wide receiver, Urich was not overly experienced as a quarterback once he began accumulating offers out of high school. From that standpoint, he's still developing his game. He's a big athlete but needs to continue improving his accuracy and feel for the game. |
|
Dakereon Joyner |
Joyner was simply a winner in high school and showed a great feel for improvising, extending plays, and making downfield throws. His accuracy is sometimes up and down and he has to keep getting better as far as decision-making and throwing it as well. |
| PLAYER | STATUS GOING INTO THE OPENER |
|---|---|
|
Rico Dowdle |
Dowdle was challenged in the offseason by Will Muschamp to improve his conditioning and way of life, as the thought has been that many of the injuries that have plagued Dowdle were related to those things. He's responded and looks to be in the best shape yet. Dowdle has plenty of talent and has made some big plays for the Gamecocks. He's been fully healthy this summer and preseason and if he can stay as such, has a lot of potential. |
|
Ty'Son Williams |
One can look back at runs last season against Missouri and Texas A&M to see the type of talent that Williams has; indeed sometimes he looks like the best of the group. He dealt with what position coach Bobby Bentley described as being "anxious" last season, so if that's been curtailed, Williams has a chance to make a big impact in 2018. He's shown flashes, but what has happened on the practice field has not always carried over. |
|
AJ Turner |
In many ways, Turner exemplifies what Will Muschamp wants the program at USC to be all about. He's an unselfish player who contributes on every special teams unit and does whatever asked of him. Turner saw plenty of carries last season, especially due to injuries at running back. While he may not get quite as many this season and will likely be used a bit differently to take advantage of his skill set, he's an extremely valuable member of the team. |
|
Mon Denson |
Will Muschamp said on Carolina Calls on Thursday that Denson has been battling a hamstring injury and seemed to intimate he may be out on Saturday. Nonetheless, Denson has improved a lot since arriving at USC and could represent a solid short-yardage option for the Gamecocks once he's back. |
|
Deshaun Fenwick |
One of the more intriguing prospects in the 2018 class for USC, Fenwick split time between wide receiver and running back earlier in his high school career. He has soft hands and good hips for being a taller back and is also a capable and physical ball carrier. With four experienced backs all set to land carries this season, time will tell if he can get any substantial run in 2018. |
|
Lavonte Valentine |
Valentine is a blazer, with state champion track speed out of Florida as a high schooler. He's yet to be cleared in recovering from an ACL tear, but should be at some point this season. Given that he has not pulled down any real practice reps to date, it may be tough for him to see the field this season. He's certainly someone to stash away for the future as far as carrying the ball for chunk plays and on special teams. |
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