SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

Spring practice coach interviews suggest that right guard is one of a couple of positions on South Carolina's 2019 offensive line that's wide open.

Spring practice actions suggest that one player has a big edge at the position.

Redshirt freshman Jovaughn Gwyn missed almost all of last season, and the first part of this spring, while rehabbing a foot injury.

But when the 6-foot-2, 305-pound Gwyn was finally fully cleared midway through spring practice, he immediately appeared with the Gamecocks' first-team offensive line, a sure sign that the coaching staff is high on him.

South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp confirmed as much during his stop at the Catawba Fish Camp Monday for the Lancaster Gamecock Club stop of the Spurs Up Tour.

"He's going to be a really good football player," Muschamp said. "He's a fast-twitch, powerful athlete, which helps him obviously, No. 1. And he's got the right among of grit to him as far as his toughness is concerned, so he has a lot of the intangible qualities and a lot of the physical attributes we're looking for in an offensive lineman. We're very pleased with where he is."

Gwyn, who joined the Gamecocks as a four-star prospect in the 2018 class out of Charlotte's Harding High School, immediately earned second-team duties as a true freshman last year before the injury forced him out of action.

Offensive line coach Eric Wolford echoed some of Muschamps thoughts on Gwyn's skillset calling him an explosive player who can run, yet also benches over 500 pounds.

Gwyn will have to beat out teammates like Eric Douglas and Jordan Rhodes to officially earn a start in the Gamecocks' opener against North Carolina in his hometown. But spring practice indications are that he's on his way to doing that.