Stone Blanton seeing 'night and day' differences heading into sophomore campaign
When Stone Blanton arrived on campus at South Carolina for the first time last year, the expectation was that he’d find his way onto the field. But probably not in a major capacity since he was a freshman linebacker on a veteran-led defense.
But one thing led to another. Injuries took their toll on some of the Gamecock linebackers, giving Blanton his chance to shine.
Blanton saw action in 12 of South Carolina’s 13 games. He amassed seven tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss.
While he didn’t make the biggest impact, the experience was just what he needed.
“Having that opportunity was huge,” Blanton said. “Just being able to get comfortable playing against the ones. We have great guys out there that are ones and twos. But obviously playing against the ones, there’s higher expectations. You can’t mess up and you have to be really sharp. And so you have to limit the mental errors. I feel like I did a really good job of that, just being able to study really hard, not let my teammates down.”
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But after playing in all but one game, Blanton’s body took a beating. The two-sport athlete decided not to play baseball this past spring in order to better heal his shoulder.
Now heading into his sophomore year, Blanton is feeling as good as he can. And he’s expecting to see a big difference in his play on the field.
“Oh, it’s night and day,” he said, smiling. “The progress that I’ve had physically and mentally as well is just night and day. I mean, it’s two different players. And I’m super ready to get out there.”
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One of the reasons why Blanton is so hopeful about his play improving comes from the work he put into his body in the offseason. He admitted that he came to South Carolina a bit overweight and needed to make a change for the better.
“Working with coach Day and Chip in there and all those other strength coaches has been a huge bonus to my game,” Blanton said. “Being able to trim that fat down and get real lean, which is what I’ve done this past year, is going to help me be a lot faster, a lot quicker, get to plays a lot faster. So I think it’s going to be a huge help.”
So far, it seems Blanton’s work in the weight room is paying dividends. He’s now clocking in at 6-foot-2, 224 pounds after gaining at least 10 pounds of muscle.
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With his physique as good as ever, Blanton’s confidence is also higher, which is something he wants to keep building heading into the season.
“(I have to) keep getting sharper on the playbook. You have to go deeper and deeper into it. Now that I know the broad basics of it I’ve gone deeper into it. I can just keep continuing, keep building off that. Then the next step is just being a leader on the field and be able to tell people where the ball is going,” he said.
