When Zacch Pickens committed to South Carolina, he became the first five-star prospect to commit to the Gamecocks in eight classes, since Jadeveon Clowney did so in 2011.

Pickens was regarded as the ninth-best player in the country for the 2019 class and, like all highly touted freshmen, it’d be easy for them to come in and expect significant playing time right away.

He did play, logging 224 snaps, but playing behind first-rounder Javon Kinlaw and entrenched starter Kobe Smith, he logged the sixth-most snaps of any defensive lineman last season.

And that’s A-OK with him.

“Going in, I kind of knew I wasn’t going to play as much because you have Javon Kinlaw and Kobe Smith. It’s all right to wait your turn,” Pickens said this spring. “This year should be everyone’s year: me, Rick, Jabari, KT. It’s all our times to shine really. This year should be our year.”

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But now it’s his turn.

With Kinlaw and Smith both in professional football, there are a combined 1,053 snaps at both tackle spots up for grabs with Pickens one of the few guys who will get those along with Rick Sandidge, Jabari Ellis and Keir Thomas.

Pickens had a solid freshman season—16 total tackles—and will need to continue to build on that because the Gamecocks are going to rely on him to help anchor the middle of the defensive line.

“We need him to play inside. We need him to be really good inside. Zacch’s over 300 pounds right now, so he’s going to play inside for us and he’ll play three-technique, he’ll play some shade and some different things in the front,” defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson said. “He’s able to do that because he’s a very physical and athletic guy. He has to continue to learn the scheme and continue to learn how we play.”

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Pickens showed flashes of what he can be last season, finishing with an overall PFF grade of 65.6 with a 68.7 pass rush grade as a defensive tackle.

Now it’s about building on that to try and earn a starting spot or a bigger role with snaps to be had.

Before spring practice was canceled he was a little over 300 pounds with that the goal weight in mind and working towards, as his new position coach Tracy Rocker tells him, “getting the dog out” of him.

“Zacch, athletically, from a girth standpoint, from an intelligence standpoint, from a work ethic standpoint, has a lot of ability,” Will Muschamp said. “We expect Zacch to continue to take the right steps forward to be the type player we feel like he can be and that he wants to be. And the great thing about Zacch is he is a great learner, great worker, unbelievable young man, that wants, he's a pleaser, and he wants to do everything the right way.”

Pickens isn’t a finished product, but it’s not out of bounds to think he can’t secure one of the two up for grabs starter spots on the defensive line this season.

Coming to South Carolina, he was a defensive end that had to bulk up to play the tackle spot—an entirely different position with entirely different techniques—and thinks as he has more time to figure out the spot it will only help him get better.

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“My footwork,” he said of what he’s working on. “At D-end, it’s kind of like high hat then go, but here it’s like one, two and get your feet in the ground quick. I just have to be quicker in my steps. Holding the line, you’re holding like 400 or 600 pounds with one leg and that’s a bad thing I did last year. That’s one thing I’m trying to correct this year.”