‘He’s going to be special,’ Javon Kinlaw says of 4-star freshman defensive tackle

Javon Kinlaw knows those flashes.

He showed them himself early in his career with South Carolina football. After playing a year in junior college, as he dropped weight following his arrival on campus, he’d make plays that just impressed for a man that size.

And he’s seen a little of that from his new teammate in the middle of the defensive line, Rick Sandidge.

“He’s going to be special,” Kinlaw said. “You watch him, he shows flashes all the time. You’re watching him in one-on-ones, stuff like that. He’s really just got to learn what to do, when to do it. He definitely shows flashes that he can be a good player.”

Sandidge was among the top players in USC’s 2018 class, a four-star defensive tackle and a top-150 prospect nationally by the 247Sports rankings.

He came to USC at 6-foot-5, 285 pounds, off a senior season in which he had 83 tackles and seven sacks at Concord High School. He joins a position where Kinlaw and Keir Thomas are returning starters, but beyond them and Kobe Smith (the No. 4 tackle much of last year), there’s not much that’s proven.

Defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson had only watched one practice when he spoke publicly, but he cautioned against underestimating the learning curve at that position.

“It’s extremely difficult,” Robinson said. “They haven’t been against guys that big before.”

Sandidge will be competing against a varied group of talents at that tackle spot.

Beyond the top three, Jabari Ellis was brought in from the junior college ranks at instant help. Freshman tackles Kingsley Enagbare and Tyreek Johnson moved inside from end, the same move M.J. Webb made before redshirting last season. Another freshman, Jesus Gibbs is also in the mix after coming in for the summer.

But Robinson expressed the need for someone to step up there, to become a player the staff trusts in that rotation. Sandidge is far from proven, but he’s at least shown enough to impress one teammate.

“Just watching him do his pass rush, how he goes about it,” Kinlaw said. “It’s real natural. It’s easy for him.”