Gamecocks will lean on versatility to fill left tackle spot
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer announced last week that first-string left tackle Jaylen Nichols suffered a “pretty significant” injury in the spring game last month and that the fifth-year senior would certainly miss the start of the 2023 season.
On Monday, prior to Beamer’s appearance at the Midlands Welcome Home Tour event in Columbia, the third-year head coach was asked about options to fill in for Moore at the always-important left tackle spot.
“We’ve got quite a few guys that have some position flexibility that worked out there during spring practice,” Beamer said. “That’s the way we always try to do things is, the more you can do, the better. So whether it’s playing guard and tackle, whether it’s playing left and right side, or whether it’s playing center and guard, we try and work guys all over the place. It’s a handful of guys that certainly can do that and that’s something we’ll continue to do as well.”
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While Beamer did not name any specific players, there are several on the roster who have spent time at multiple positions, including left tackle, as Beamer described.
Jakai Moore, who played left guard both in the spring and at the end of last season, seems like the most likely first option.
While Moore appeared to have found a home at guard, he does have 12 career starts at left tackle while making appearances there in multiple other games.
Transfer offensive tackle Sidney Fugar went through spring practice as Nichols’ backup at left tackle, though the former Western Illinois starter has no experience at the SEC level.
The Gamecocks have also been active in the transfer portal on the offensive line, though finding top targets at that position can be difficult.
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Freshman early enrollee Markee Anderson started off camp as a guard but did cross-train at tackle during the spring and played left tackle in the spring game.
The Gamecocks will also add to their overall offensive tackle depth when redshirt freshman Cason Henry returns to full-speed.
Henry played some last year at right tackle while maintaining his redshirt and was in the conversation to start there in the bowl game before Tyshawn Wannamaker, who was the first-team right tackle this spring, won the position.
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Nichols went down in the first half of South Carolina’s spring game in mid-April and did not return to the contest with what Beamer at the time called a lower-body injury.
The Gamecocks’ projected starting left tackle in 2023, the fifth-year Super Senior appeared in 38 games over the past four campaigns including 18 starts.
A versatile blocker, Nichols has started at left guard, right tackle and left tackle in his career.
Last season, Nichols appeared in 12 games, making seven starts, all at left tackle.
