The next step for Shi Smith

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

After a solid first two seasons in Columbia, wide receiver Shi Smith will look to become a much bigger part of the South Carolina offense in year 3.

The Gamecocks' starting slot receiver from almost the second he stepped on campus, Smith spent the spring working at Deebo Samuel's old outside receiver position, as the staff will look for the former four-star prospect to replace some of Samuel's immense production.

“We repped Shi outside pretty much through the entire spring to make sure he understood and learned the position, which he learns extremely well," head coach Will Muschamp said Wednesday at the Charleston stop of his Spurs Up Tour. "Bryan (Edwards) is going to be a guy that garners some attention, so you need to be able to have somebody else on the other side to hold some attention as well. That’s what makes it tough on defensive coordinators, when you have two guys that can equally hurt you in the passing game. That’s what we think Shi can develop to be.”

Smith already owns 74 career receptions for 1,082 yards with seven touchdowns in 24 games, including 16 starts.

As a freshman, he hauled in 29 passes for 409 yards, a 14.1-yard average, with three scores and didn't drop a single pass. Last season, again playing primarily the slot, Smith caught 45 passes for 673 yards, a 15.0-yard average, and four touchdowns though he did see his drop total rise to four too.

Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon said this spring that Smith still has a long way to go before reaching his massive potential, a sign that McClendon wants more out of Smith this season but also that he believes he can be a top player in the league.

McClendon identified practice consistency as the next step for Smith while Smith himself termed it as needing a greater attention to detail, while getting stronger in the weight room.

"My biggest thing on the outside, because I’m not one of the bigger, stronger guys, my thing is speed release," Smith said this spring. "Try to beat them with my speed. That was my position when I was in high school. That’s all I played. I came inside for matchups, really, but in high school I was mainly outside."

When Samuel sat out the bowl game, the staff moved Smith to the outside receiver position with Josh Vann starting inside. With Vann back and OrTre Smith returning from injury, the staff will have the option to play Shi Smith inside (with Ortre Smith on the outside) or Shi Smith outside (with Vann on the inside again) this season.

Regardless of where he lines up, and it's likely he'll spend time lining up all over, including possibly on kickoff returns, it stands to reason that Smith's targets will go up this season.

After being targeted 41 times as a true freshman, Smith was thrown at 62 times last season. For comparison's sake, Samuel was targeted 98 times and Edwards 87 times last year.

"I don't think you can replace (Samuel)," McClendon said this spring. "The biggest thing you have to do is to do everything you can do to get your playmakers the ball and defining who exactly those guys are going to be. That's the purpose of spring; that's the purpose of [fall] camp. We've just to to do a good job of making sure we're honing those down and finding ways to get those guys the ball."

If the Gamecocks are going to be good on offense, then Smith will certaintly have to be one of those guys.