South Carolina players dish on freshmen who impressed during bowl prep

South Carolina’s season is over, and with it a horde of seniors and upperclassmen are departing for whatever the next steps of their careers hold. 

The Gamecocks are going to have to replace a ton of production heading into next season, and over the course of bowl practice, a few guys gave some insight on some young players in the freshmen class who have stood out over the last year.

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“I’m going to say Tanner Bailey. That’s my dog. I think Tanner Bailey’s going to come along great, have a fantastic spring and have a chance next year. There are a bunch of guys: Donovan Westmoreland, he’s a great guy,” Stone Blanton said. “Pup’s coming in. the list goes on and on with Dre Martin and Landon Samson. It’s really everybody. We have a great class and I’m excited to see how we play.” 

Blanton is one of the few freshmen who got extended playing time this season while Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith started. Most played on the defensive side of the ball with the offense relying heavily on veteran or portal talent. 

Blanton, though, is part of a young linebacker corps that has the departing seniors excited about its future. 

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“Stone, of course, and Debo (Williams). The freshman linebacker coming in has pretty good size, Pup (Howard). I like how he’s looking right now,” Sherrod Greene said. “That boy’s strong. We ran a couple of drills together and he kind of manhandled me a little bit. He didn’t realize how strong he was. SEC linebacker right there. For sure.” 

Emmanwori and Smith will also be around some of their classmates next year in the secondary with Cam Smith, Devonni Reed and Darius Rush all leaving for the NFL. 

In their stead, Keenan Nelson Jr. started and played well. Nelson Jr. finished the bowl game allowing five catches on eight targets for 47 yards and tipped a ball that led to an interception.

He’s also someone who could see more playing time with snaps to go around in the secondary. 

“I would say Keenan Nelson,” Smith said. “He’s one of the guys having to replace our best that left in Cam. learning from him the whole year, I think Keenan will be ready to play.”

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The Gamecocks have another freshman defensive back who kept coming up in Kajuan Banks, who played sparingly this season. South Carolina also listed Banks the two-deep depth chart heading into the bowl game. 

“I learned the playbook is the most important thing. You have to be in your playbook more than the weight room, more than the field workouts and footwork,” Banks said. “You have to be in the playbook, you have to get the other things in but it’s the playbook.”

Offensively, the Gamecocks have a few young players who could have their roles expanded next season. Two freshmen got the chance to play against Notre Dame, notably receivers O’Mega Blake and Landon Samson. 

Juice Wells seemed very high on Blake and what he’s seen during bowl prep. 

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“He attacks the ball very well. He’s got big hands. He wears like a four-X glove,” he said. “He’s nice at attacking the ball. That’s what I love about him.” 

Shane Beamer also said he’s been impressed with freshman offensive tackle Cason Henry.

Cason (Henry) is a guy who’s gotten better every single week in practice. We traveled Cason to every away game this year because he was that close to playing,” Beamer said. “He’s going to be a really, really, really good player for us as he moves forward in his career. He’s a guy who’s really gotten better as this year’s gone on as well. We’ve got a ton of confidence in him.”

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