Rocker seeing Pickens, Sandidge making strides daily
After the first scrimmage, Will Muschamp wasn’t happy with the Gamecocks’ second and third team defensive tackles, saying flatly they “stunk.”
Included in that group is Zacch Pickens and Rick Sandidge, two high profile and highly recruited players during their senior seasons, and Tuesday defensive line coach Tracy Rocker discussed exactly what he’s looking for with those two guys.
“With those guys, it’s approaching practice every day and getting better. We make strides in practice,” Rocker said. “We have 18 periods of practice and it’s can we get them to stay mentally focused and mentally tough for 18 periods? We’re getting there."
Pickens, the first five-star commitment of the Muschamp era, and Sandidge, a four-star who picked the Gamecocks on signing day have made their fair share of contributions but were limited some playing behind entrenched guys like Javon Kinlaw and Kobe Smith.
This year, though, they’ll be asked to do more—taking reps with the second team—and Rocker is working on getting them to play with consistency every day in practice.
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“Every day we pull teeth and the next day we don’t have to pull any teeth with them,” he said. “That’s part of football. I like the growth we’re having with them.”
Ahead of them right now on the depth chart are Jabari Ellis and Keir Thomas, who are both seniors.
Ellis is the talk of camp so far, earning praise from every coach and player who’s been asked about him and he’s showing a lot of promise as a guy who’s waited his turn to start up front.
“What I love about Jabari is he wants to compete, wants to learn. I like him and he likes me. I think we have a bit of chemistry as to how I approach the game and the way he approaches it,” Rocker said. “I think he really wants to be not just a good football player but be a good person and also have a leadership role on the team. Those are the things he talks about with me and that’s why he’s having success now.”
Thomas is entering his redshirt senior season after missing almost all of last year with an ankle infection but is back and taking starter reps this training camp.
The lineman is versatile, playing every spot on the line through four years, playing in 37 games over four years while racking up 110 tackles and 5.5 sacks.
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“What I like about him is he’s going to voice his opinion and I love it. The deal is he’s a hard worker and a very caring young man,” Rocker said. “For him, it’s improving his game every day. He’s coming off injury and what I’ve enjoyed is the way he’s approached practice every day mentally and helping with the leadership with the young guys.”
The Gamecocks will need all hands on deck with Pickens, Sandidge, Ellis, Thomas and freshman Alex Huntley along with a few other guys because they know they’ll need all of them in the middle.
“Right now, they’re going to all go. You’d like to have a set number but right now I’ll say they’re all going,” Rocker said. “They’re all going to have to play. We don’t know. We don’t know. For us, we’re preparing as if something could happen and we have to prepare fro the next guy up.”
