SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
Gamecock defensive line coach John Scott Jr. has been around the NFL and been around some good players in his time working with the Jets.
He coached first-rounders Muhammad Wilkerson and sixth-overall pick Leonard Williams and knows what good NFL linemen look like.
DJ Wonnum, according to him, can be just as good.
“He’s a special guy. He can set the edge for us and can rush the passer,” Scott Jr. said. “I was with the jets for two years and when I look at his body type, his athleticism, he was better than some of the guys we had out there. I think he has a lot of potential. He can be special for us.”
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And the Gamecocks are hoping Wonnum is as special as Scott thinks he can be this year because if he is, it probably means the Gamecock defensive line is wreaking some havoc.
It’s easy to see the impact Wonnum has on the defensive line, and look no further than last year’s Tennessee game as proof.
After the defense struggled in the middle of the year with Wonnum out with an ankle injury, he returned to make an impact, getting the game-clinching strip sack late in the fourth quarter.
Then, as he battled more injuries the back half of the season, the defense continued to struggle.
Fully healthy now, he’s expected to anchor the team’s defensive line at the ever-versatile BUCK position and looks good so far entering what could be his final season at South Carolina.
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"He looks really good. He's playing well,” Will Muschamp said. “I think he's rushing the passer extremely well, playing the runs well, leveraging well. He's right at 260 (pounds), and I'm really pleased with how he's playing. You've just got to account for him offensively. When you go into a game, it's all about matchups. We've got to make sure we're getting the protection to No. 8, and we've got to make sure there's somebody helping there.”
Wonnum is listed as a senior and could apply for a medical redshirt since he played in five games last year, just over the threshold for a normal redshirt.
He could get it, but that’s not the focus right now. His focus is on having a great senior year and potentially seeing what will happen in his professional career.
While Scott’s seeing Wonnum’s potential really for the first time this camp, the coach he’s spent the better part of four years with isn’t shocked at all about what the lanky end is showing through camp.
“I told y’all that a long time ago,” Mike Peterson said. “But the NFL, me and him don’t talk about that. Me and him will talk about it one on one when we sit to the side but right now we got some ball games to play. We have some quarterbacks to get after.”
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Wonnum’s garnering some preseason hype entering this year, earning preseason third-team All-SEC by Phil Steele and hoping to earn some postseason awards after what could be a solid senior season.
He’s continuing to develop and is taking the next step in his game, bringing the younger guys along as well.
“His football intelligence is off the charts as far as just knowledge of the game, knowledge of situations. He's not a guy that you have to sit there and walk-through everything,” Muschamp said. “He gets it, and he understands it. He also is a great leader. He doesn't say a lot, but he demonstrates his leadership ability in positively effecting people around him. It's as good as I've been around. Having him on the field there's a lot of different positives he brings to our organization past just the fact that he's a good football player."
