The 5 biggest questions South Carolina has to answer in camp ahead of 2019 season

South Carolina’s football team has nearly a month of practice before taking on North Carolina in Charlotte. Here are the biggest questions the Gamecocks must answer before they take the field.

1. What shakes out at running back?

A.J. Turner has run for more than 1,300 yards in three seasons, started 11 games and right now projects as most likely to end up playing defense. Tavien Feaster comes in with all the hype off his transfer from Clemson but has to pick up everything quickly after likely missing the start of camp. Oh, and Rico Dowdle — who boasts 1,669 career yards, 19 starts — missed all of spring and has never been able to take a tight grip on the position despite numerous chances. Along with Mon Denson, the team has four seniors, all with different pluses and minuses. Feaster is the favorite owing to the fact he was brought in for only a season, but there’s a lot to shake out.

2. How does the safety-nickel shuffle sort out?

At the moment, R.J. Roderick is South Carolina’s surest thing at safety. Publicly, the staff has said they’d prefer him at nickel. To make that happen, they need two of the trio of Jamyest Williams, J.T. Ibe and Jamel Cook to emerge as consistent and reliable options. Injuries and up-and-down play dogged Williams and Ibe last season, before both were sidelined for good. Cook possesses a high ceiling to say the least, but harnessing his talent has sounded like an issue. The follow-up question is, if Roderick ends up a safety, who plays nickel? A true freshman in Jammie Robinson? Williams, who played there in 2017? Jaycee Horn reprising his role from last year?

3. Who fills out the final offensive line spots?

We know Donell Stanley will start somewhere on the interior and Dylan Wonnum will start somewhere at tackle. We can be reasonably sure Sadarius Hutcherson will stay outside, filling the tackle spot (likely left) opposite Wonnum. If everything plays to form, Hank Manos, who started the bowl game last year, takes over at center, while Jovaughn Gwyn, who missed much of last season, becomes the second guard. But those last two aren’t set. If Manos falters, does Stanley go back there? Can Gwyn build on early promise that had him playing his first college game and at the No. 1 spot in spring? Eric Douglas could play either spot, while Jordan Rhodes is a power option at guard. Did former defensive lineman M.J. Webb make a smooth transition to the O-line?

4. Which freshmen are ready?

South Carolina likes playing first-year guys, and it will have some options. Defensive linemen Zacch Pickens and Joseph Anderson should play some role. At defensive back, multiple freshmen will likely need to step up. Is that Cam Smith, Robinson? Maybe John Dixon or Shilo Sanders? The team has interesting talents at linebacker in Derek Boykins and Jahmar Brown, as well as the pass-catching spots with receiver Xavier Legette, Keveon Mullins, the long-awaited Tyquan Johnson, plus a pair of tight ends. Camp is where a staff learns if players are ready to at least see the field in Year 1, and USC will have options.

5. Who emerges as the secondary set of pass catchers?

South Carolina is in highly decent position in terms of receivers. It has a seasoned trio in Bryan Edwards, Shi Smith, OrTre Smith, plus to veteran tight ends in Kiel Pollard and Kyle Markway. At receiver, it also has solid veteran backups in Randrecous Davis and Chavis Dawkins, plus former four-star Josh Vann who played last year but wasn’t all that productive. But USC has other pass-catching options. At receiver the aforementioned freshmen trio, plus big body Chad Terrell and redshirt Darius Rush. Tight end has athletic former basketball player Evan Hinson, a big body in Will Register and two freshmen in KeShawn Toney and Traevon Kenion. USC could probably survive with that top group, but the rest could offer higher ceilings.

One smaller question that likely gets answered

Who wins the backup quarterback job tends to not be the most consequential. The last time the team had to rely on a backup whose job was in question, it was probably Jake Bentley, who started as a third-stringer with plans to redshirt. Nonetheless, the Dakereon Joyner-Ryan Hilinski battle should be interesting and could tell us something.

One question that won’t get answered

The Gamecocks return five linebackers who played at least six games last season, plus veteran Eldridge Thompson, who took a medical redshirt. They add in a pair of talented freshmen. But it’s unlikely any backups surpass starters, and this team’s main area of having to prove things will come on the field when the season starts. The theme of the offseason was cleaning up mistakes when the games are real, and the only time to to that is when the season actually starts up.