Three burning questions for South Carolina defense following spring ball

We are smack dab in the middle of the offseason doldrums.

Following an overall successful spring for a program that appears to be catching momentum as a contender for a spot in the top half of the SEC, there remain lingering questions for South Carolina as we hit the month of May and gear up for the summer.

The Gamecocks will return to voluntary workouts after Memorial Day, and we won’t know too much about the progress of individual players and the team as a whole until at least mid-June.

There are still questions for us to dive into regarding Shane Beamer’s program, however, and we begin by taking a look at defensive coordinator Clayton White’s unit that is in dire need of another solid season with several new faces that need to get up to speed:

Potential is an empty word. And so far, that word is all that has defined the South Carolina careers of Zaach Pickens and Jordan Burch.

The duo signed with the Gamecocks in the 2019 and 2020 recruiting classes, respectively, as two of the highest-ranked signees in program history right up there with Jadeveon Clowney and Marcus Lattimore. The two in-state, five-star defensive linemen – Pickens from T.L. Hanna and Burch from just down the road at Hammond School – came in with as much hype as could be expected for players of their athletic reputation.

Will this be a big season in which production matches that hype? Things appear to be trending in the right direction, especially for Pickens, who is on his third defensive line coach in four seasons (four coaches if you include the one who recruited him), but seems to be clicking with Jimmy Lindsey and getting some momentum with the second-year coach.

Earlier in the spring we already hammered home the importance for South Carolina to establish a more consistent, game-changing rush defense and to make a bigger impact in their pass rush (at least stats-wise) but just to rehash that here:

South Carolina actually finished with the second-best pass rush grade in the SEC, per Pro Football Focus, with a grade of 87.1 despite finishing 12th in the conference with 26 sacks. The Gamecocks had two players finish in the top 15 in sacks, but gone is Kingsley Enagbare (tied for No. 11 with five sacks), so Pickens (tied for No. 12 with four sacks) is going to have to pick up some production from the inside.

He finished toward the bottom of the pack in his PFF defensive grade (61.3) and rush defensive grade (57.1), ranking in the bottom third in both out of more than 500 qualifying defensive linemen, but he did finish with a respectable 70.1 grade in pass-rushing that had him in the top-third nationwide. Even if he doesn’t rack up a big sack total, though, he is going to have to improve his run defense and take on the brunt of opponents’ offensive line focus by eating up double teams and the focus of the other team’s best linemen.

And Burch is going to have to step up his game in a major way. He finished with just one sack last season and had similar poor grades by the folks at PFF that had him closer to the middle of the pack or worse among qualifying edge players (68.2 defensive grade, 62.2 run defense grade, 59.1 pass rush grade). He is the defensive lineman who needs to step up his production the most, and he is one of the candidates for the title of “Most important South Carolina defensive player” this fall.

Many of you voiced concerns about R.J. Roderick in our forums: that he was inconsistent last season and that he showed during the spring game that he is still continuing to have a propensity to take poor tackling angles.

Still, Roderick is set up to resume his role as one of White’s starting safeties on the back end, and he brings a veteran presence to a group that needs it after star Jaylan Foster departed.

But there remains another veteran presence in the back end of that defense – a veteran in college football, though not yet a veteran with the Gamecocks.

Former all-conference Central Michigan safety Devonni Reed transferred from the MAC to the SEC and brings with him a knack for making plays on the back end. He is not an overly fast safety, but instincts, ability to process information pre-snap and read plays a half-step or full step before they happen is much more important than pure speed at the safety spot. And he has all of those qualities – plus a willingness and passion to lay down a hit.

He is my No. 1 candidate to wind up being a fan favorite on this defense, and similar to Burch could emerge as one of the unit’s most crucial players.

South Carolina’s reputation for producing stud cornerbacks precedes it. Cam Smith has the makings of being the next star cornerback in Columbia, and you could easily argue that he already is a star.

He produced in a big way last season after taking over for first-round NFL Draft pick Jaycee Horn. Smith showed that he has the potential – there’s that word again – to follow in the footsteps of Dunta Robinson, Johnathan Joseph, Stephon Gillmore and Horn as the Gamecocks’ fifth all-time cornerback taken in the first round. Some early mock drafts have him slotted into a first-round pick, with PFF having him as the No. 12 overall pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in its way-too-early 2023 mock draft.

Smith is also ranked as PFF’s No. 2 returning cornerback in college football behind Alabama’s Eli Ricks after Smith finished with the second-highest coverage grade (89.7) and fourth-highest overall defensive grade (88.4) in the country last season. He allowed multiple catches in only two games last season, surrendering 15 catches on 32 targets.

Incredible production. If he has similar production – or even surpasses it – he eases so much of the burden on South Carolina’s defense. He has star potential and could be the Gamecocks’ next All-American at cornerback.

Do you agree or disagree with our three most burning questions? Did we miss anything that you are concerned about? Let us know what you are looking for out of this defensive unit heading into the offseason on our message boards.