South Carolina football: Projecting the 2021 starting lineup
For all the turnover South Carolina suffered in the wake of the coaching change from Will Muschamp to Shane Beamer, the offense certainly returns plenty of familiar faces. The defense? Well, that’s another story.
Shi Smith is obviously the biggest loss in terms of production and consistency on offense. Sadarius Hutcherson was a veteran presence who helped stabilize the offensive line and rarely made costly mistakes. But outside of those two, and some Nick Muse flashes at the end of 2020, the cupboard is pretty full for the Gamecocks, at least in terms of veteran players who have experience.
Now, the next step would be upgrading that production, most notably at wide receiver, where the program struggled to find a secondary option in 2020. The Gamecocks were 10th in scoring offense in the SEC at 23.5 points per game. And while the running game is expected to be strong behind 1,100-yard rusher Kevin Harris and a healthy MarShawn Lloyd, Luke Doty and the receivers need to contribute more than they did in 2020.
Here is a look at the projected starting lineup in 2021:
Offense
- QB: Luke Doty
- RB: Kevin Harris
- WR1: Ahmarean Brown
- WR2: Jalen Brooks
- WR3: Xavier Legette
- LT: Jakai Moore
- LG: Jordan Rhodes
- C: Eric Douglas
- RG: Jovaughn Gwyn
- RT: Dylan Wonnum
- TE: Jaheim Bell
The offensive line is largely set and will be one of the most veteran in the SEC. The interesting battle will be among the wide receivers. Georgia Tech transfer Ahmarean Brown will compete with Jalen Brooks, who showed flashes in practice last season before he was cleared to play but never materialized in a game. Xavier Legette is another wild card; Gamecocks fans have been waiting on him to emerge.
The offense has potential, but that will largely depend on Doty’s progression as a passer.
It’s hard to believe the Gamecocks finished 3rd in the SEC with 32 TD passes just 3 seasons ago.
Defense
- DL: Kingsley Enagbare
- DL: Zacch Pickens
- DL: Jordan Burch
- DL: Tonka Hemingway
- LB: Sherrod Greene
- LB: Mo Kaba
- DB: Jaylin Dickerson
- DB: Cam Smith
- DB: ZaQuandre White
- DB: O’Donnell Fortune
- DB: Jaylan Foster
The departures were much more significant on defense, and that’s less than ideal considering how much this unit struggled in 2020. South Carolina allowed 36.0 points per game. Obviously, that was against an all-SEC schedule, but that was almost 10 points more per game than they allowed in 8 SEC games in 2019. SC’s defense hadn’t struggled this mightily since the 2014 defense allowed 36.8 points per SEC game.
Leading tackler Ernest Jones and ballhawk cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu are gone. Jones’ consistency, and Horn and Mukuamu’s highlight-reel plays the last 2 seasons against Auburn and Georgia would be tough for any team to replace.
Fortunately, there are some household names in the mix for 2021. Especially up front, where the projected starters — including the pair of 5-stars in Pickens and Burch — will receive rotation help from Jabari Ellis, Rick Sandidge, Alex Huntley and Aaron Sterling. A case could be made for several different combinations in that group.
New defensive coordinator Clayton White typically deploys a 4-2-5 alignment, but given this personnel situation, he may shift that thinking. If White adds one of those linemen to more of a stand-up pass rusher role, look for Kingsley Enagbare to be a possibility at the old “Buck” position, if White uses such a role.
Linebacker is an area of weakness, especially when one of the veterans expected to return, Sherrod Greene, missed almost the entire season in 2020 with a fractured hip. However, rising sophomore Mo Kaba made the All-SEC Freshman team as named by the Associated Press.
The secondary was hit hard by not only the NFL departures but also transfers like John Dixon and Shilo Sanders.
The Gamecocks will have returnees Cam Smith, Joey Hunter and O’Donnell Fortune and 2021 JUCO signees Marcellas Dial and Isaiah Norris, angling for starting jobs at cornerback in 2021.
Final thought
There are obviously more familiar names on offense, but the defense, especially up front has more than enough talent, too. With so much turnover on the staff, Beamer’s assistants will be charged with developing existing talent as much as luring new recruits to Columbia. If they can find that blend of coaching along with recruiting, the success will follow.
Not as bad as I expected, too many questions in the secondary. Smith really needs a redemption year and interested to see White back there.
they do not have the bodies to play a 4-2-5. they need to look at a traditional 4-3 next year and recruit for what they want to run for ’22/’23
You are dead on.
Luke Doty is electric, he like another John Rhys Plumlee and you love watching them in games other than when you’re actually playing them.
let’s not get ahead of ourselves. i’m still hoping we can land a solid QB in the transfer portal. doty is very raw as a passer and w/out experience or depth at WR and TE it is going to be a struggle throwing the ball.
SC’s defense rarely looked prepared or had a clue about what they were TRYING to do – other than the Auburn game. They obviously were not well coached and were usually out of place and if by chance they WERE in the correct position, they made pathetic attempts at tackles! I do hope the new staff gets them back to basics such as tacking a runner’s LEGS rather than his shoulders! I look for improvements in all areas in 2021!
we had some of the worst unaddressed covid issues in power 5. they didn’t even announce numbers until after they fired muschump. more of those issues were on D. the point about the auburn game is that this defense would have been pretty solid if not for covid. the other point is that like most of the muschump era the offense consistently put the D in bad positions by not being able to move the ball or score.
Yes I thought it was strange that the Cocks seemed to jus tip-toe thru the season with minimal “announced” COVID #’s but I guess that was just a Will-ism so to speak…not wanting to release the real #’s.
no mention of joyner. surely he will be able to crack the starting line-up at WR with this underwhelming and unproven group. brooks showed flashes in games. he was able to get open often wide open running past the D but he had too many drops and in other cases we did not have a QB able to get him the ball. he’s got a chance to be solid this year. the adjustment from juco to the SEC is huge.
Joyner committed to the wrong school. He could have played somewhere. A good talent wasted.
Strongly disagree. It’s very commendable that he stayed instate and that he has stepped up every time he has been called upon. With 2020 a wash, I believe he’s still just a sophomore and by year’s end and barring injury, he will be an x-factor going into his junior year. Not saying he will be playing on Sundays one day, but SC has been known to produce an NFL receiver or two.
USCe does not have the players or the depth to compete. they will be 4th at best in east
That would be a welcome improvement
i like your sense of humor in a tough time for the USCe football team. my office was on Assembly street 3 blocks from campus from 1994-2006 and i became a big fan of the Gamecocks!
This group is much more talented then meets the eye. Good coaching. That’s the key. Do that and we’ll be looking at an 8 win season. Our success next year will be weighed by 3 stats running the football, turnovers, and getting to the quarterback
If yall are so confident why havent i seen a UT depth chart? Lol….yall dont have the cahones
First, it’s spelled cajones. Second, we welcome any Tennessee fans that need a break from NCAA sanction talk and from the heat of the flames.
Time for my annual prediction: Games will be played (almost got that one wrong last year). One team will win, one will lose. The weather will be warm, the beer ice cold. The scenery will be fantastic. We will win one we shouldn’t and lose one the same way. A good time will be had by all.
Gamecock3x…Great attitude ! I agree…keep the beer cold and have a good time.
Yeah Zaquandres not starting at DB he’s probably going back to offense Joey Hunter is starting somewhere in the secondary also out of the transfer and 2 Juco guys one of them could start in the secondary too. Nick Muse has been our starter at TE for 2 years is leading in reception yards for the returners so he’s probably starting Bell and Mullins gonna play a lot tho.
This article was written prior to the FCS transfer announcement. EJ Jenkins could be a diamond in the rough. 6’8″ record setter at St. Francis. He did have some interest from P5 schools (Clemson, Penn State, Virginia Tech, NC State, etc.) but somehow wound up at St. Francis. His QB, Jason Brown, is also coming over.