SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
South Carolina's four-man freshman defensive back class arrived in Columbia this offseason with a collective vision of making an immediate impact for the Gamecocks.
Through five games, all four have played to varying degrees with one already emerging as a key standout on defense.
The class, which features three Rivals.com four-stars in Jammie Robinson, Cam Smith and John Dixon, and a high three-star in Shilo Sanders, has been paced by Robinson who has made by far the biggest contribution to the team so far.
"Jammie Robinson is playing really good football right now," defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson said Wednesday. "As the year progresses, you'll see him continue to get better. His best football is by far ahead of him, but he's understanding the expectation of what it takes to play in the SEC and to play good secondary play. I'm excited about where he is, but obviously he has a long way to go."
Robinson has been a regular part of South Carolina's rotation since Day 1, playing in all five games, mostly at nickelback but then more at safety this past week against Kentucky.
Robinson was credited as a "starter" in just one of those games, the season opener, but has played 253 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, sixth-highest on that side of the ball.
Robinson has collected 11 tackles and opponents have completed just five of their 20 targets in his direction with no deep completions to his man.
"John Dixon started the first ball game and did okay, but can do better," Travaris Robinson continued. "Just learning how to practice is probably the main thing that we're trying to teach the freshmen now, between him, between Cam Smith, between Shilo Sanders, all of those guys - you can include Darius Rush, who we moved from receiver to corner - those guys are going to be really good players for us, but right now are just learning what to do and doing it the right way. The consistency is what we're looking for."
Smith had what Will Muschamp deemed the best practice of his young career last week and it appears more playing time could be on the way for the freshmen.
Dixon has played in all five games, primarily on special teams, but has taken 73 defensive snaps. Smith and Sanders have only played in the blowout win over Charleston Southern, taking 36 and 33 snaps, respectively.
But with little rotation at cornerback so far (senior A.J. Turner who moved from offense has only played on special teams and has dealt with a finger injury), that's led to starters Israel Mukuamu (325 snaps) and Jaycee Horn (309 snaps) playing the most plays on defense through five games.
"I have to do a better job of getting one of those (freshman cornerbacks) in the game more and being able to rest Jaycee or Izzy, for maybe a couple of series here or there, because those guys are the next guys to go in and play and I understand that," Travaris Robinson said. "I played backup corner when I was at Auburn for a couple of years and I know what it is to be in a situation that you have to get out on the field and you haven't been playing, so I've got to do a better job of getting those guys out there for a couple of series. They're talented enough to do it, I just have to trust them more, and they earn that trust by practicing the right way."
