Tavien Feaster comes to South Carolina with a ton of hype but we’ve all seen players that arrive with fanfare and fail to perform on the field. According to Jake Bentley, the new Gamecock running back won’t fit into that category.

During his recent media availability, Bentley was asked to share his thoughts on South Carolina’s running back. According to the Gamecock signal-caller, Feaster’s presence is a big boost to the offense’s ground game.

“Without a doubt. We’ve hit some long runs in the last few days in some crucial moments, but really, all the running backs have stepped it up,” Bentley said. “I think they have embraced what Coach Brown is implementing there, just that grind that he brings to practice and what he expects.”

It’s natural to immediately ask about Feaster impacting the ground game but Bentley offered up another important aspect of the running back’s game that may be getting overlooked — he’s a natural pass catcher and finds ways to create explosive plays as a receiver.

“He’s very natural, very natural with the ball in his hands and that’s something, obviously, with him being at Spartanburg and me growing up there, I’ve always seen from him, being able to catch the ball and go score with it. That’s something he has shown a lot of promise in the passing game.”

In his three seasons playing for Clemson, Feaster put up 1,513 yards and 16 touchdowns from scrimmage for the Tigers. Feaster also helped in the return game, with nine returns for 172 yards during his first three seasons on the college gridiron.