PFF breakdown: Jaxon Hughes
South Carolina had to get a little creative in the transfer portal this offseason and did it twice on the offensive line with Jaxon Hughes and Ni Mansell.
The Gamecocks are bringing on two priority walk-ons this summer with Hughes (Charlotte) and Mansell (Mercer).
Both have experience at the college level, so let’s take a look at a few of the Pro Football Focus numbers for each to see what they can bring to South Carolina starting with Hughes.
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For starters, Hughes is someone who’s played a ton of snaps over his three-year career. Almost all of those came over the last two seasons.
He only played 14 snaps in 2020 but played 394 in 2021 then a whopping 705 in 2022. Of those 705, 682 of those came at left tackle.
From an advanced metric standpoint, Hughes finished with a 56.5 overall grade. He had a much better run-blocking grade (63) than in pass protection (49.8).
In his 450 pass-blocking snaps, Hughes allowed 25 pressures and three sacks according to PFF. But there is something to him playing arguably his best down the stretch of the season.
Of those 25 pressures, only four came in the final four weeks of the season.
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Three of his four best-graded games came after week 10 in games against Middle Tennessee State, Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky. Those games also included his best pass-protection games as well.
He finished with a 75.5 pass-pro grade in 37 snaps against Western Kentucky. Hughes also 79.9 in 49 pass pro snaps against Middle Tennessee and a season-best 82.3 in 22 snaps against Louisiana Tech.
Hughes also had an 80.3 pass-pro grade in week three against Georgia State.
From a run-blocking perspective, his highest-graded game was against Western Kentucky (73.2). He also had a 69.4 in Week 1 against William and Mary.
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He had three other games graded out above a 64 in run blocking: Maryland (Week 2), UAB (Week 7) and the Louisiana Tech game in Week 12.
Hughes was called for five penalties all year, two over the final six weeks of the season.
He’ll walk on at South Carolina. That gives the Gamecocks an incredibly experienced depth piece for an offensive line that needs it.
South Carolina was already going to have to replace one starting tackle in Dylan Wonnum, but the Gamecocks’ expected left tackle to start the season–Jaylen Nichols–will miss significant time with a knee injury.
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The Gamecocks have a few options to put there like Jakai Moore, Tyshawn Wannamaker, Sidney Fugar and others. But the options are somewhat limited on guys who can bump out to tackle.
Getting someone like Hughes into the program and seeing what he can add at tackle could be helpful. And it’s even more so when the Gamecocks can do it without expending a scholarship at the moment for it.
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