What it’s like to go 1-on-1 with Zacch Pickens? ‘He’s an animal’

South Carolina offensive lineman Eric Douglas was nothing if not confident.

Heading into the first padded practice of the August camp season, he was asked who he wanted, and he didn’t ask for any quarter.

“I want the biggest dude,” Douglas said. “I want Javon.”

That’s 6-foot-6, 310-pound defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, who happened to be out with an ankle injury. So instead, Douglas got Zacch Pickens, the five-star, 6-foot-3, 300-pound lineman who finished among the 10 highest rated players in his high school class.

And that was an adventure of sorts.

“He’s an animal,” Douglas said. “He’s going to be great. He’s gonna be a good one. Ever since spring he’s been getting stronger. (With) Coach Scott, he’s gonna get his technique and stuff down. So he’s gonna be he’s gonna be a like, like (Javon) said, I see a lot of Javon in Zacch.”

Pickens is coming to Columbia off a Mr. Football season at T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson. He put up 87 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and six sacks, while getting double and triple-teamed and being run away from. He also moonlighted on offense, putting up 889 rushing yards and 22 offensive scores.

He’s got an uncommon mix of size and quickness. Despite playing end in high school, he’s got the bulk to play inside on the college level.

Jovaughn Gwyn, one of the best weight room players on the team who has a good chance to start at guard this year, said he noticed how strong Pickens had gotten since the spring.

His position coach, John Scott Jr., said he’s getting a better sense for the schemes, which is allowing him to play faster.

Pickens got a jump on things when he enrolled early. He got into the weight room quickly and ended up getting second-team snaps once the spring game rolled around.

Now his teammates, especially the ones lining up across from him, are seeing the payoff from that in a different Pickens.

“Stronger, quicker,” Douglas said. “And he has like a better sense of where the ball is going to be where he needs to be in these gaps and all that.”