There’s typically a hierarchy in college football.

The seniors and juniors have an edge on the freshmen and sophomores, and rightfully so since people who are older tend to have a little more experience and are farther along in terms of being physically ready to shoulder the grind that is SEC football.

That hierarchy is there at almost every position with just one real outlier.

“Running back is a position you can tell pretty quickly if the guy’s got it. Usually you’re not signing a running back to redshirt him. What should your running backs be doing if you’re not starting them? They should be starting on special teams,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “They have the type of body to where they’re physical enough. They ought to be able to run and go down and make plays or block and protect. If they’re not a bigger running back they ought to be one of the return guys. If they’re not, then you probably signed the wrong guy if you’re redshirting a running back.”

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Bobo knows the first hand, having recruited and coached in the SEC for over a decade and has first-hand experience with a running back sitting out his freshman season.

Much to his chagrin and his pleading against it, four-star prospect Knowshon Moreno was redshirted his first season in Athens with Bobo as the offensive coordinator.

Moreno ultimately rushed for 2,734 yards and 30 touchdowns in two seasons and was a first-round pick two years after his redshirt season and was the talent Bobo and the rest of the coaching staff knew he could be.

“Running back is pretty quick,” Bobo said. “It’s not one of the positions that are hard to play as a freshman. Protections can be a little bit of an issue, but you can do things as a play caller to protect a young back as far as protection. It doesn’t take long.”

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The good news for the Gamecocks is they won’t be redshirting any of their backs this season and have quite a bit of young talent at the position.

Their oldest back is Deshaun Fenwick, who’s a redshirt sophomore, and they have redshirt freshman Kevin Harris but everyone else will be a first year player.

They signed three backs in the 2020 class with Rashad Amos, junior college back ZaQuandre White and the jewel of the class in five-star MarShawn Lloyd.

Lloyd is one of two five stars in the class—Jordan Burch the other—but was the only one on campus to go through what the Gamecocks had of spring practice.

What the coaches saw was a guy who can help and Bobo said Lloyd’s “going to play for us this year” offensively.

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“MarShawn Lloyd, I think he has a chance to be a special back,” Bobo said. “He’s very diligent about how he approaches things. He comes with the right mindset. He’s sitting in coach Bentley’s meeting room 30 minutes before the other guys get there. He wants to learn. He wants to be ready.”

Lloyd comes to South Carolina as the No. 33 player in the country and the No. 4 running back in his class.

“I think he’s a special back. I think he’s really good. I remember him giving a little shake on the first day of practice. He’s a good kid,” Ryan Hilinski said. “He’s on my row and is about two lockers down from me. Talking with him every day and his every day life, he’s a kid that’s humble and he’s excited to be here.”