As you probably suspected, Will Muschamp doesn’t seem to care what any outside observers think of his players. That’s no different when discussing recent signee Dakereon Joyner.

If you missed it back in April, ESPN college football and recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill shared his blunt assessment of Joyner during a radio appearance on the Rich Taylor Show.

“If (South Carolina) moves Dak Joyner to receiver, they’re going to have a great skill guy at their disposal for three to four years,” Luginbill offered up. The ESPN analyst would go on to defend his opinion on Twitter, stating Joyner has a “long ways to go” to be an SEC quarterback but did offer up some high praise for the freshman when he compared him to former Florida great Percy Harvin.

During one of his recent stops on the SpursUp Tour, Muschamp was asked to share his thoughts on Joyner. According to the South Carolina coach, he isn’t buying into any of the talk of moving Joyner to a position other than quarterback.

“He has higher expectations in himself than anyone in the room. He’s progressing extremely well,” Muschamp said according to John Whittle of The Big Spur/247Sports. “He’s done a really good job for a high school senior to step in on the field in the Southeastern Conference and compete against really good players. I’m really proud of his progress. I think Dakereon has a very bright future at the quarterback position here at South Carolina.”

Despite the praise Muschamp has for Joyner, that hasn’t stopped the Gamecocks from pursuing more options at the QB position in 2019. South Carolina currently holds a commitment from California native and four-star prospect Ryan Hilinski and has extended a scholarship offer to 2019 Michigan State QB commit Dwan Mathis.

Those moves make sense, however, as South Carolina is somewhat lacking depth at the QB position looking ahead to 2019. Michael Scarnecchia will have run out of eligibility and Jake Bentley could turn pro early — although he’s publicly stated he doesn’t have any plans to do so at this time. All programs would rather have too many options at quarterback than not enough.

Should Hilinski sign with the Gamecocks and overtake Joyner to earn either the backup role behind Bentley or the starting role as a freshman, then things could get interesting for the Gamecocks’ QB room. Until that time, it makes sense for the team to keep their options open and try and develop the best possible quarterback situation with the players they have on the roster heading into 2018. Wisely, that appears to be the approach Muschamp and his staff plan to take.

To get an idea of what Joyner can do from his quarterback position, check out his high school highlight reel here: