He’s a fast, powerful athlete and he might answer a big Gamecocks offensive question

Jovaughn Gwyn’s cameo appearance in the South Carolina 2018 football season was most notable because it happened at all.

His coach, Will Muschamp, promised he’d get a chance to play in his first game on campus if things got out of hand. They did against Coastal Carolina, and the true freshman, who picked USC on signing day and enrolled in the summer, got his first few career snaps.

It seemed to be a precursor to some garbage time work here and there in a redshirt season, following the path most young linemen take no matter how talented they might be. Instead, his season was done less than two weeks later.

A foot problem from high school lingered, and required surgery. It kept him out from the second week of the Gamecocks’ season until the middle of spring practice.

But those around him saw the potential.

“He’s going to be a good player,” defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare said. “He’s very explosive and very strong, as y’all can see in the weight room. He’s very, very strong, and he’s going to be a good player once he gets healthy.”

That apparently showed itself late in spring, as Gwyn stepped in from being injured and was promptly the No. 1 right guard in the spring game and in late open practices.

Enagbare’s words nearly matched Will Muschamp’s about his future and his talent.

“He’s a fast-twitch, powerful athlete,” Muschamp said. “He’s got the right among of grit to him as far as his toughness is concerned, so he has a lot of the intangible qualities and a lot of the physical attributes we’re looking for in an offensive lineman. We’re very pleased with where he is.”

The 6-foot-2, 305-pounder picked South Carolina over N.C. State and came out of a powerhouse high school program. Offensive line coach Eric Wolford only spoke with the media during spring before Gwyn returned to team play, but he saw some of the promise.

“In the individual drills, you can see the traits that he has,” Wolford said. “That’s what we recruited. Obviously he’s a 500-pound bencher. He’s explosive. He can run. So it will be exciting to get him back in here.

“Some of the things he did early in camp were encouraging.”

If he can lock down that guard spot, it would mean the Gamecocks at least have a framework of a potential starting five for next season. Dylan Wonnum is a shoo-in at tackle, and sixth-year senior Donell Stanley will start somewhere, likely guard.

The staff sounded plenty confident in Sadarius Hutcherson moving from guard to left tackle, and Hank Manos appears to have some kind of inside track for the center job. (Obviously, all positions are fluid to a degree.)

That leaves the guard spot, likely right guard. The names in the mix before freshmen arrive are Gwyn, Jordan Rhodes, who got some work as an extra lineman in heavy looks, and Eric Douglas, the most versatile lineman of the group.

“Eric Douglas has done some good things in there,” Wolford said. “Jordan Rhodes flashes at times as the guy that we expect him to be. So it’s kind of up in the air.”

The coach said Douglas was more consistent with his assignments (he was the No. 1 center in the spring game), while Rhodes had a bit more punch. And that was all before Gwyn entered the fray.

USC wants to go into the season with eight or so available linemen, maybe more should a long-term injury strike. To that end, the three options at guard plus Stanley can’t hurt, and the expectation of training at multiple spots allows for flexibility.

“Who knows where the lineup is going to shake out?” Wolford said.

This story was originally published May 5, 2019 at 11:00 PM.