Carolina Confidential – Early camp buzz

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Depending on when you read this, South Carolina is now four or five practices into their preseason football camp as the Gamecocks officially put the pads on Tuesday morning and are also scheduled to practice on Wednesday morning as well.

With the first scrimmage not taking place until this Saturday, it’s still a little early to start making too many strong declarations but there has been some early buzz about particular players already.

— We reported all spring and post-spring about the positive talk both privately and publicly (Shane Beamer praised him during the Welcome Home Tour) about newcomer Torricelli Simpkins III and just to reiterate he’s definitely going to be a factor on the offensive line. From what we can tell so far, the plan appears to be for Simpkins to compete for both the starting right guard spot and the backup role at center where Vershon Lee is entrenched as the starter.

We also mentioned in the spring that Kamaar Bell may have been getting more first-team reps than we initially anticipated and he has continued to compete during camp for the left guard spot. Is it too early to tell how those spots will turn out? Probably so but even with the returnees at guard, Bell and Simpkins are definitely in the mix and pushing.

There’s also a healthy competition at left tackle where we’ve heard Josiah Thompson has gotten his share of reps with the first string through the first few days of practice.

— Without going into specifics, and to reiterate something Dowell Loggains has said, we’ve heard the plan on offense is definitely to try and build the scheme and game plan around the skillset of the quarterbacks.

— Running back Rocket Sanders is back and practicing full-go after missing the entire spring while rehabbing his shoulder. To be fair, running backs should be judged on in-game situations but we have heard some early indications of Sanders doing things to remind people just how good he can be in terms of his explosiveness and ability to make people miss. He also appears to be in great shape.

— We have continued to shift our expectations for transfer wide receiver Vandrevius Jacobs from a guy who wasn’t necessarily expected to make an impact this year, to a guy we heard some summer buzz about (we wrote about that a little), to someone we’re now highly intrigued by. Could Jacobs push directly into the mix at receiver? It’s not a farfetched thought.

We also hear Mazeo Bennett continues to impress as a freshman, as he did in the spring, and pushes for a spot in the rotation as a slot receiver.

Overall, it’s obviously a receiver group that isn’t the biggest but we’re told on the whole they look fast.

— I mentioned in a recent Practice Observations story that freshman tight end Michael Smith looked the part and I had that thought confirmed to me by someone else.

Listed at 6-foot-6, 255-pounds Smith looks every bit of that and appears to move smoothly for someone that size. He’s got receiver skills but also isn’t scared to get in there and mix it up physically. We’re officially keeping an eye on him as a guy who can play this year.

— Freshman Jalewis Solomon is focused on learning the nickelback spot and that appears to be a great position for his skillset.

If Solomon can prove he’s ready to help there, that could be a big boost for the overall depth in the secondary for multiple reasons.

We can assume that Jalon Kilgore will hold down the nickelback spot in the base personnel just as he did after taking over that spot last year but he’s still a safety at heart. Solomon’s emergence would allow the staff to also use Kilgore as a reserve at safety (in addition to his nickel duties) to increase the depth there and/or also play him at safety some with Solomon at nickel in certain packages based on down and distance or matchups.

In 2022, South Carolina was able to use different nickelbacks based on their opponent’s personnel due to the depth at cornerback (sliding Cam Smith over against pass-heavy teams) but last year they weren’t able to do so.

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