South Carolina freshman among three honored by PFF
South Carolina lost this weekend to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, but several Gamecocks had nice performances. Three players, in particular, caught the eye of Pro Football Focus’ college division.
On Monday, PFF announced their weekly All-SEC team for week seven, and guard Torricelli Simpkins and cornerback O’Donnell Fortune were included. Simpkins was the right guard of the week, while Fortune slotted in as a “flex” defensive back. The outlet also revealed Tuesday that true freshman left tackle Josiah Thompson was the highest-graded freshman lineman in the country. His overall grade was 76.4.
Simpkins’ grade stems from his elite 88.8 mark as a pass protector. Thompson overcame a tough start to post solid blocking grades the rest of the way. Fortune earned a very solid 83.3 grade in coverage, but because of several big-time plays against the Alabama ground game, he graded out with an elite 90.0 in run support.
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On the season, PFF has graded Simpkins as an 80.8 pass blocker, the 4th-best mark among SEC guards with at least 200 pass block snaps. Fortune owns the second-highest corner coverage grade in the conference (87.2). His 82.8 overall defensive rating is second on the team behind defensive lineman TJ Sanders (83.2). Thompson’s numbers have been up and down, but he is the highest-graded true freshman tackle in the conference. He also has the fourth-highest national grades among true freshman tackles.
For the Gamecock offense, Rocket Sanders (72.1) joins Simpkins with a strong overall season grade. On defense, TJ Sanders (83.2), Fortune (82.8), Nick Emmanwori (77.7), Kyle Kennard (76.7), DeAndre Jules (73.6), Jalon Kilgore (73.2), Bryan Thomas, Jr. (73.2), Boogie Huntley (71.5), Dylan Stewart (70.5), and Tonka Hemingway (70.1) give the Gamecocks ten players with grades above 70 on more than 100 snaps.
