TJ Sanders chiseling out role on defense this spring
Ask his South Carolina teammates and they’ll be the first to tell you TJ Sanders likes to tout his basketball prowess.
The self-proclaimed best player on the team, Sanders was a multi-year starter at Marion before coming to South Carolina to play another sport.
Sanders is a defensive tackle for Shane Beamer’s program and someone who, after a redshirt year, seems poised to play a role defensively.
“Definitely from a growth standpoint I’ve grown a lot,” Sanders said. “Last year the adjustment period was tough on me. I felt like I had to get better every day. Getting blocked is not something I want to happen to me. I feel like the best way to avoid that is perfecting my craft.”
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound freshman is the talk of spring practice so far with nearly every defensive player mentioning him.
He’s still very new to football—he just started playing as a high school junior—but impresses a lot of the Gamecocks’ coaching staff dating back to last season.
“I’ve been buying stock in TJ since like mid-October of last year. I saw what he did on the scout team all last season,” Beamer said. “He really worked to get better last year. He’s had a good winter in the weight room and a guy who continues to impress…we’re trying to find more and more ways to give him more opportunities.”
Sanders committed to South Carolina under the previous staff and got to campus over the summer.
He spent all of his time last year trying to get his feet under him while being on the scout team. Coming into his second season, now he looks to be ready to at least play snaps in games.
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Sanders is still very much a work in progress but said he’s “one of the better pass rushers” in the defensive tackle room. He hopes that skill helps him get on the field this season as he continues to grow.
“He probably has the highest ceiling in the room because he hasn’t played a lot of football. He’s a 300-pounder who has really nice feet. He understands football. He’s a basketball-kind of defensive tackle,” defensive coordinator Clayton White said.
“He can present some problems from a pass rush and movement. He’s a really good football player and I’m definitely glad he’s here.”
Time will tell if Sanders can maintain and ultimately chisel out a role for the Gamecocks this fall.
A good summer and training camp could vault him into the rotation, but there’s no question his teammates are high on the potential Sanders has.
“I love TJ to death. We all know TJ likes to talk. Once he gets on the field, he turns into a beast,” Zacch Pickens said. “He’s going to be really good. I can’t wait to see him. He’s been showing up a lot in our practices.”
