SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
The NFL regular season is over and things now turn to the playoffs with just a few teams remaining in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy.
With the end comes the end of a few seasons for Gamecocks in the NFL, including a few rookies who just got done with their inaugural professional seasons.
This year was a few standout performances from guys in the league with a few guys still playing as well.
Below we look at all of the rookies from South Carolina and how they did this regular season.
Deebo Samuel, WR (San Francisco 49ers)
The do-it-all receiver at South Carolina picked up right where he left off last season, just now on a much bigger stage. Samuel is lighting the league on fire in his rookie season with the first-place 49ers, playing in 15 games and hauling in 57 catches for 802 yards and three touchdowns.
Also see: What we learned from Monday's loss to Stetson
After waiting until the second round (No. 36 overall) to hear his name called, he's turned into one of the best rookies in the league this year.
He's currently leading all rookies with 17 catches of 20 or more yards, is fourth in total receptions and total yards, fifth in yards per game (65.7) and 11th in total touchdowns.
Samuel helped the Niners to a 13-3 record this year and the No. 1 seed on the NFC side of the playoff bracket. They have homefield advantage through the playoffs and a first round bye, which means they'll wait t see who they play after this weekend's games.
Keisean Nixon, DB/KR (Oakland Raiders)
After going undrafted, Nixon found a landing spot quickly with his hometown NFL team, the Raiders, and did enough in the preseason to earn a spot and chisel out a role on this year's squad.
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He played sparingly on defense but was a key special teamer, never playing less than 57 percent of the Raiders' special teams snaps in any one game. As the season went on, his role steadily increased. He played 30 snaps in the Raiders' Week 16 game.
Nixon ended his rookie season with three total tackles and three kick returns for 63 total yards and one pass deflection.
The Raiders went 7-9 in his rookie season and just missed the playoffs.
Rashad Fenton, DB (Kansas City Chiefs)
Fenton was a fifth-round pick by the Chiefs and, while he didn't earn a starting role, was a rotational player in the Kansas City secondary.
He played solely on special teams until Week 6 before getting more defensive snaps and by the end of the year he was playing upwards of 30 to 40 snaps per game on the defensive side of the ball.
In nine games playing on the defensive side of things, he'd finish with nine tackles, a quarterback hit and four deflected passes.
Like Samuel, Fenton and the Chiefs have a first-round bye in the playoffs and are the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
Also see: Instant analysis from Monday's loss
Dennis Daley, OT (Carolina Panthers)
Outside of Samuel, Daley was the only other Gamecock rookie to start a game in his first NFL season with Daley coming into preseason camp and, because of some injuries along the line, wound up starting nine games this season.
He started the final five games of the season, playing every offensive snap in those starts with a handful of special teams snaps as well.
Other Gamecock rookies currently on rosters:
Zack Bailey, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (IR)