What Bryan Edwards has seen from young quarterbacks

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

Bryan Edwards has seen a lot over his four-year career at South Carolina and has played with a handful of different quarterbacks in practice.

He’s been playing with four this spring and is impressed with what he’s seen from the team’s three young passers in Jay Urich, Dakereon Joyner and Ryan Hilinski.

“All of them have made great strides. Jay Urich, Dakereon, Ryan, they all have the talent. I think they’re all going to be really great players,” Edwards said. “It’s all about getting the reads and getting the small things down. They all have the arm talent, it's about learning the playbook, learning coverages and getting adjusted to the game.”

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He’s seen the biggest jump with Joyner, who’s entering his redshirt freshman season after limited snaps last year.

The former four-star prospect and dual threat quarterback came in with a lot of fanfare after finishing just shy of 10,000 all-purpose yards at Fort Dorchester and was named South Carolina’s Mr. Football after a 13-1 season his senior year.

But, when he got to South Carolina and behind two entrenched upperclassmen in Jake Bentley and Michael Scarnecchia, he struggled to see the field.

He played in just one game last year, going 1-for-2 with one passing yard and three rushes for 24 yards.

This season he’s firmly in the back-up quarterback position and is showing progress from a passing standpoint this spring.

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“It’s night and day from last year. Last year you saw a guy that wasn’t very comfortable going through his progressions and his reads, but now he’ll sit back there,” Edwards said. “He won't think about running, he’ll go through his reads. Running’s kind of a last option for him right now. He’s comfortable making all the throws.”

Joyner is competing with redshirt sophomore Jay Urich and highly touted freshman Ryan Hilinski who comes in as an Elite 11 Finalist and four-star quarterback and the No. 3 quarterback in the 2019 class.

Hilinski, who has the highest Rivals ranking among the group, threw for almost 2,800 yards and 29 touchdowns his senior season. Edwards says the early-enrollee needs to continue learning defenses and the Gamecocks’ playbook but has the raw skills to succeed in the SEC.

“He’s got it. He’s got talent. He has all the tools a good quarterback needs to play here,” Edwards said. “He’s going to be one heck of a player, honestly.”

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This may be the deepest quarterback group the Gamecocks have had under Will Muschamp with an average star rating of 3.75 and Rivals ranking of 5.83.

Bentley is the starter heading into the season with a wide-open competition for the team’s backup spot, and Edwards says he sees a Bentley with a better demeanor and more of a sense of urgency heading into his senior season.

Edwards did say, though, the young quarterbacks are pushing Bentley in practice and the senior quarterback with 32 starts is getting better because of it.

“All those guys are very talented. Jake knows if he’s not playing up to par he knows he could possibly get his position taken,” Edwards said. “That’s with anybody on our offense. If you’re not playing the way we need you playing, we have the talent and depth to have you not playing anymore.”