Dakereon Joyner’s early impressions of Ryan Hilinski

For the foreseeable future, Dakereon Joyner and Ryan Hilinski will be competing against one another.

Both are battling for the backup spot behind Jake Bentley. When he leaves, they’ll likely be battling for a starting spot. But after a few months of Hilinski being on campus, his fellow-blue chip passer was nothing but complimentary.

“Very, very unique guy,” Joyner said. “Kind of West Coast kind of guy. … He’s a competitive kind of guy. Level-headed kind of guy.”

Both players have been in the same spot to a degree. Both came in as decorated recruits, both awash with fan expectations. Neither is old enough nor has had enough thrust on them to lose that new-QB shine.

On Saturday they got the lion’s share of the work in the spring game, as Jake Bentley was used sparingly and Jay Urich spent most of the day at wide receiver. In his Williams-Brice debut, Hilinski went 24-for-36 for 206 yards, working the short game with accuracy.

Joyner, a second-year player who redshirted last year, showed off the mobility that was his trademark as a recruit. He scrambled plenty, moved the pocket, completing 10 of his 23 passes for 185 yards (62 were on a screen to Urich) and running for 60 yards on eight carries.

Coming out of the game, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said the competition for the No. 2 spot will carry through to the summer. And even as they vie for the same thing, Joyner showed a healthy level of respect.

“Working with him, he’s very talented,” Joyner said. “I think throughout this spring, when he first came in, we made each other better so much.

“I appreciate him and all that he does.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2019 at 2:18 PM.