SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

Will Muschamp said entering camp this South Carolina team has the most competitive depth in his time in Columbia.

None more so on the defensive side of things than at the nickel spot, where five different players took reps there Friday morning with more to come as practice continues.

“The competition is on and they know that," nickels coach Kyle Krantz said. "know they can’t take their foot off the gas.”

Also see: Full recap from Krantz's meeting with the media

The Gamecocks played some younger guys at that spot in the team's first practice Friday, getting Jaycee Horn, AJ Turner, Jammie Robinson and Shilo Sanders acclimated at that spot.

Horn spent the majority of his time at nickel as part of an All-Freshman season last year, but the sophomore is expected to start at one of the Gamecocks' outside corner spots.

AJ Turner is also listed as a backup corner but will split time at running back as well.

Usually, this position has been filled by a first or second year player with Jamyest Williams and Horn anchoring those spots the last two years.

The freshmen repping there today were Robinson and Sanders, who were going through their first college practice.

Also see: Day one practice observations

Robinson, a four-star prospect, was recruited as a guy who could come in and play nickel right away and Krantz sees a lot of similarities to Horn in his game.

“It’s the same thing as Jaycee: he’s really competitive, he’s got heavy hands and he can cover," Krantz said. "He’s shown the ability to learn nickel and safety and that’s a good skill to have in our defense.”

Both Robinson and Sanders arrived over the summer so Friday was the first chance coaches could see a lot of their skill set.

They were able to see a little of it during summer workouts but this was the first real chance to see some of the freshmen like Sanders.

“He’s really competitive, heavy handed," Krantz said. "He wants to do well and wants to be successful. He’s got a lot of traits for a successful DB.”

Also see: Notes on a few hoops targets

The Gamecocks have made it a habit of cross-training players in the secondary and this group is no different.

Robinson took reps at safety in the portion of practice open to the media and Roderick will split time at nickel while also competing for a starting safety spot.

“He’s worked really hard and he’s really smart. It helps a young freshman coming in seeing RJ play safety and nickel, seeing Jaycee playing corner and nickel," Krantz said. "They understand they can’t learn just one spot. They have to learn them all because we have a lot of good players in here and someone’s going to get left out.”

Krantz also said Williams could see some reps at nickel as practice continues while he gets first-team reps at safety.

The Gamecocks continue practice Saturday morning and will practice again Monday and Tuesday before their scheduled off day Wednesday.