MarShawn Lloyd arrived in Columbia this offseason with a ton of hype. If you were to ask the players charged with stopping the freshman running back in practice, the early enrollee has lived up to the hype.

South Carolina is still in the early stages of the team’s spring camp but Lloyd has already done enough to impress several of the Gamecock defenders that met with the media recently.

If you were to ask veteran defensive back Jaycee Horn about the freshman tailback, he’d tell you he’s seen moves like Lloyd’s before on the field.

“Yeah, he made a spin move and he almost got to the edge, I was the edge of the defense, he almost got to the edge but I was picking at him a little bit,” Horn said of Lloyd during his recent media availability. “It’s every day you see crazy moves from him.”

That’s not going to temper the expectations fans have when it comes to Lloyd but Horn then took things up a notch.

“I tell him, going back, when we played Georgia this year, the way (D’Andre) Swift move and how fast he get up on you, I told MarShawn he remind me a lot of that,” Horn added. “He super fast to the ball, he hit hole full speed and I think he’ll have an easy adjustment playing in the SEC. I really think he going to be a good back.”

That comment would be one thing if Horn was the only one to suggest Lloyd has impressed but linebacker Ernest Jones echoed those sentiments during his media availability.

“MarShawn is quick, that is one thing that I have witnessed first-hand,” Jones said. “He is very quick, he comes out every day and he competes and that’s what I am liking from him so far. He’s competing and he’s trying to take it to the older guys. He is doing his job to earn a spot and earn a reputation around us.”

What exactly does Jones mean with his “first-hand” comment?

“He done got me, he done got me, but I’ve gotten him, too,” Jones answered.

South Carolina is tasked with the challenge of replacing Rico Dowdle, Mon Denson and Tavien Feaster this offseason which makes the potential for Lloyd’s impact with the Gamecocks to be massive this fall. Lloyd signed with the Gamecocks after being ranked as the No. 5 running back in the nation in the 2020 recruiting cycle and a top 50 overall prospect.

Hearing these comments is one thing, but here is a video of Lloyd’s quick foot action in work courtesy of Chris Clark of Gamecock Central:

https://twitter.com/GCChrisClark/status/1235592290795540480?s=20