Eight Gamecocks garner nine pre-season All-SEC slots from Athlon Sports
Eight South Carolina Gamecocks garnered nine spots on the four 2022 pre-season All-SEC teams as selected by Athlon Sports.
Cornerback Cam Smith is the lone Gamecock listed on the pre-season first-team All-SEC unit, according to Athlon Sports.
Wide receiver Josh Vann and tight end Jaheim Bell garnered second-team honors.
Defensive lineman Zacch Pickens and kick returner Juju McDowell represented South Carolina on the third team.
The fourth team unit had Vann listed as a punt returner, along with all-purpose back Dakereon Joyner, offensive lineman Jovaughn Gwyn and punter Kai Kroeger.
Athlon Sports bases its selections on how players will perform in 2022. Career statistics and awards matter in the evaluation, but choosing players for the 2022 all-conference team is largely based on predicting and projecting the best for the upcoming year. Also, team strength does not play a role in selections. These are the best individual players at each position in the league for ’22, according to Athlon.
The complete pre-season All-SEC football teams can be found here.
The Gamecocks, under second-year head coach Shane Beamer, will open the 2022 season at home on Saturday, Sept. 3, when they host the Georgia State Panthers. Game time has been set for 7:30 pm ET and the contest will be streamed live on ESPN+/SECN+.
FROM USC MEDIA RELATIONS
Spencer Rattler among top QBs in new On3 College Football Impact 300
By Jack Veltri
On3 revealed its top 10 returning quarterbacks on Monday, with South Carolina Gamecocks QB Spencer Rattler coming in at No. 5 in the soon-to-be-released On3 Impact 300.
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The On3 Impact 300 ranks the best players in college football heading into the 2022 season, with a full release coming in the next few weeks.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Rattler ranked behind Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud, USC’s Caleb Williams and Texas’ Quinn Ewers.
The former Oklahoma quarterback had the fewest total yards in 2021 of all quarterbacks who started in the top-10 of the On3 Impact 300, however, his 3,031-yard season in 2020 factors into the new Gamecocks’ 2022 projection. The presumed starter for South Carolina, Rattler has an NIL value of $2 million. He was the No. 3 QB transfer this offseason behind Williams and Ewers.
A five-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals, Rattler was ranked as the consensus No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2019.
