SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

With the summer session starting soon it means the majority of South Carolina’s remaining 2019 signing class is arrived on campus over the last few days, including the biggest player in the class.

No, literally the biggest.

That’d be offensive lineman Jakai Moore, who weighed in at roughly 6-foot-6, 300 pounds in the recruitment process and is a guy the Gamecocks think can develop into a starter at arguably biggest position on the field.

“He can legitimately play left tackle,” offensive line coach Eric Wolford said. “I know he can play right tackle, I know he can play guard so he’s a four-position player right there already. He likes football. I still think he’s raw. But the thing about him is when we get him down in June; we’ll have two months with him to get him ready to go.”

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Moore arrived on campus Wednesday with five other signees—Keveon Mullins, William Rogers, Vincent Murphy, Jahmar Brown and Johnny Dixon—and will start offseason workouts with the rest of the team soon.

That’ll give him a chance to add some muscle to his 6-foot-6 frame so when he starts this fall at one of the tackle spots he’ll be able to hold his own against SEC defensive linemen.

Wolford compared him to another player in the 2019 class in Jaylen Nichols, who looked impressive in spring practice, and Wolford didn’t rule out either Moore or Nichols earning a spot in the two-deep depth chart as freshmen.

“He’s another Jaylen Nichols type guy as a guy that can come in and who knows how fast he learns the plays and how bad he wants it,” Wolford said. “He might be able to sneak into the two-deep or be the next man in and by midseason may be the best guy. I can’t predict that."

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Moore committed to South Carolina in December and signed shortly after that, choosing the Gamecocks over Penn State.

He comes to school as a three-star prospect with a 5.6 rating and the No. 23 overall player out of Virginia, playing both football and basketball in high school.

Wolford and Will Muschamp went up and watched Moore during his high school basketball playoffs, seeing first hand the athleticism this 300-pound lineman had.

Jakai’s a guy we’ve pinpointed and really enjoyed,” Muschamp said when Moore signed. “He’s a guy that has tremendous upside as a football player. We think his genetic ceiling is very high as far as a guy with a lot sitting in front of him.”

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Moore is one of five offensive linemen committed in the 2019 class joining Rogers, Murphy, Nichols and Mark Fox.

The Gamecocks haven’t been shy to play freshmen, even on the offensive line, with Dylan Wonnum turning into the team’s starting right tackle the back half of last season.

Moore may not start right away, but his coach seems to think he has all of the tools to succeed at the college level.

“Obviously there's the physical aspect of things. He's 6-5, 300 pounds, he's got long arms. I think we measured him and compared him, in the spring, to the NFL Combine guys and his length would be right there with any tackle that's coming out, so there's that,” Brud Bicknell said when Moore committed. “I think the thing that separates him from other guys is the fact that he plays so hard. He has a little bit of a mean streak that you don't always see from an offensive lineman. He just enjoys trying to be bury guys and being physically dominant."