Post-spring position look: running back

It’s been a dead period for South Carolina football. Players are off for the month and won’t return to campus until June.

With some down time before things pick back up, let’s assess the running back position from top to bottom.

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Departing players

It’s well documented that the Gamecocks lost a lot of talent after last season. In the transfer portal, they watched MarShawn Lloyd and Rashad Amos. Not to mention Jaheim Bell, a hybrid talent, left for Florida State.

The loss of Amos isn’t detrimental. He only had two carries for seven yards in 2022. It’s just Lloyd and Bell’s production that’s tough to replace.

Both players combined to rush for 834 yards and five touchdowns. They were the top two rushers on the team.

Christian Beal-Smith also isn’t coming back this year. There was an expectation that he could be an impact player like he had been at Wake Forest but that wasn’t the case. While dealing with injuries, he ran for 231 yards on 47 carries.

Returners

While South Carolina is losing a lot of yards, there are some key guys coming back to try and pick up the slack.

It starts with Juju McDowell, who is now sporting No. 1 instead of No. 21. There’s a good chance he could be playing meaningful and consistent snaps in his third year. He rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 3.5 yards per carry.

Turbo Miller is the only other Gamecock coming back that had carries last year. He ran six times for 38 yards.

It should be interesting to see what kind of roles DJ Twitty, Bradley Dunn and Nathaniel Harris-Waynick chisel out this season. All showed flashes in the Garnet and Black spring game. It’s the perfect time for guys who have yet to make an impact step up with a lot of question marks at the position.

One addition to the room will be Dakereon Joyner. He’s done it all at South Carolina, playing quarterback and wide receiver in the past. In his final season, he looks to be making the switch to running back.

In his first game-like action, he ran for 22 yards with a long of nine in the spring game. His athleticism and speed could give him a leg up in making the transition much easier.

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Newcomers

With all the running backs lost in the transfer portal, the Gamecocks did get a good one in return. That would be Mario Anderson from Newberry College.

In 29 games with the Wolves, he rushed for 3,301 yards on 513 carries and 35 touchdowns. He was named a Division II All-American last season. That’s the type of production South Carolina will be hoping to see this year.

Make no mistake, DII football and the SEC are two different worlds. Even at 5-foot-9, 209 pounds, it seems Anderson is confident in his abilities to make it work. If he can be any semblance of the player he’s shown to be, the Gamecocks will have hit the jackpot.

Outside of Joyner and Anderson, there haven’t been any other additions to the group. But adding another running back before the season starts wouldn’t hurt.

Still to enroll

In what was a solid 2023 recruiting class, the Gamecocks signed one running back: Djay Braswell. He’s a 5-foot-11, 200-pound freshman from Sandersville, GA.

As a senior at Washington County High School, Braswell ran for 974 yards, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. He was even better as a junior, running 80 times for 1,091 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Braswell also ran track at Washington County. He won the Georgia 2A state 100-meter title as a junior with a clocking of 10.72 and captured the 200m gold in 21.99. He’ll become one of many former track athletes to join the football team.

He should be reporting to the team sometime over the summer. All players, including freshmen, should start trickling in after Memorial Day.

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