It hasn't taken long for Dakereon Joyner to impress in running back 'experiment'

Is what was first deemed an experiment to provide another potential look for Dakereon Joyner to give opposing defenses already becoming something more?

It’s probably still far too early to start predicting a full-on position change for the South Carolina veteran, but it’s only taken four spring football practices for Joyner to show just how capable he is of helping the Gamecocks at yet another position.

Head coach Shane Beamer and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains were both asked last week about Joyner’s role after he was spotted with the running backs during the open portion of Carolina’s first practice.

And then Beamer was asked about it again Tuesday now that the Gamecocks have worked through several workouts, giving them a look at Joyner in the backfield.

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“When I first met with Dakereon about this, it was, ‘Look around Dakereon, we’re not very deep in that running back room and it’s an opportunity for you to go in there and get some reps as well,'” Beamer explained. “It’s also, two, ‘We’re a better football team when we’re on the field and there’s a lot of things you can do as a football player. You can throw and you can catch and you can run as well.’ I knew it would be somewhat of a seamless transition because he’s done a lot of the quarterback stuff and the run-game at quarterback also, so it was, ‘Hey, let’s get you some reps, we need you, and it’s an opportunity for you, let’s see what you can do and there more you can do the better.'”

The former four-star quarterback’s journey has been well-documented.

After starting his Carolina career as a QB, Joyner ultimately made the move to wide receiver, while also spending time in the backfield as a change-of-pace at quarterback.

The North Charleston, S.C. native famously started the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl at QB and led the Gamecocks to a win while earning MVP honors after completing all nine of his passes for 160 yards and a touchdown while adding 64 rushing yards on 10 carries.

So, it’s been a popular offseason question among South Carolina fans every year: What is Joyner’s role this season?

At the very least, it appears the addition of running back reps serves to only expand Joyner’s place in the offense from last year.

“I used the example with him of Taysom Hill with the New Orleans Saints, a guy that played some quarterback in college I guess and does a little bit of everything for the Saints as well,” Beamer continued. “DK is a leader on this team. DK is just a really, really good football player.”

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But could the role expand even further from there? Or better put: Could Dakereon Joyner be the Gamecocks’ starting running back at some point this season?

Again, that’s a question that can’t yet be answered. But the Gamecocks will need someone to step up at the position after losing MarShawn Lloyd and Christian Beal-Smith and part-time running back Jaheim Bell from last year’s squad.

And so far, Joyner seems to have at the very least done enough to raise some important antennas.

“I think his transition has been, I don’t want to speak for everybody else, but for me, even better than I anticipated it,” Beamer said. “He’s very, very natural at it. He’s got instincts, he’s got vision, he’s tough.”

What’s perhaps most impressive is that Joyner, who has shown the ability to make plays with the ball for his entire life, has also made an easy transition to the most difficult aspects of playing running back: executing without the football.

“We showed the team this morning,” Beamer said. “We were doing a 1-on-1 pass-rush drill where it’s the running backs vs. the linebackers in 1-on-1 pass pro and DK’s first two reps ever as a running back are like textbook, everything that Montario Hardesty teaches at the running back position, how to block a blitzing linebacker, DK was awesome.”

If the head coach keeps talking like that, it may be harder to continue to call it an “experiment.”

“He’s embraced it and ran with it and we’ll see where it goes,” Beamer said. “My conversation with him was, ‘We know what you can do at receiver, we know what you can do at quarterback — we’re not going to get away from that — but we’ve got 15 spring practices, let’s see how this running back thing goes. We can always go back to receiver but it’s also something that we can continue to expand as we go.'”

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