Gamecocks practice observations: A few missing faces and a new tight end?

The South Carolina football team opened up a portion of its Friday practice to the media, giving a little look at what the Gamecocks are working on.

A few observations from Will Muschamp’s team on the field.

▪ The three periods open to the media were heavy on fundamentals: turnovers, block shedding, the finer points of blocking on kick returns. It was loose enough that at one point in a defensive circuit, safeties Jamyest Williams and J.T. Ibe were intermingled with a linebacker group.

▪There were a few notable missing faces. Wide receivers Tyquan Johnson and defensive linemen Kingsley Enagbare and Keir Thomas remain sidelined with the group of injured players, and defensive tackle Tyreek Johnson was also there. Also not spotted were transfer running back Tavien Feaster, whose Clemson graduation was Friday, freshman linebacker Derek Boykins and tight end Kiel Pollard.

▪The tight ends group had easily its biggest player in offensive lineman Chandler Farrell, who squeezed into a No. 31 jersey and was working at that spot. Ferrell is a former walk-on who played the interior offensive line spots up to this point.

‘He looks good,” Gamecocks QB Jake Bentley said. “Gloves on, little towel. We were talking about it last night.

“Get get a big guy in there on a defensive end, that’s you know, maybe a little smaller. That’s a matchup problem as well for them. ... He’s actually pretty natural catching the ball. Maybe he wasn’t born to be a lineman. Maybe he was born to be a receiver.”

▪ The running backs and quarterbacks were working on some interesting handoff drills, making the handoff, then catching a pitch and either running or dropping back and looking to throw. Later on, they were working on bootlegs passes after pitching the ball to the outside.

▪ In one of the block-shedding drills when players lift a sled and throw it down, it’s apparent Eldridge Thompson is a pretty strong guy. He had a lot of force on those throws.

▪ There was a large cluster of what appeared to be football alums on hand. That included tight end Willie Scott, who was a first-round draft pick and played eight years in the NFL. Athletic director Ray Tanner also dropped by.

▪ Scouts from the Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans were also in the building.

▪ RJ Roderick and Shilo Sanders went head-to-head a few times in a spirited battle during a coverage drill. Neither one dominated but they were talking a lot of smack.

Notes

▪ South Carolina’s annual Fan Appreciation Day is 3-4:30 p.m. Saturday at the football indoor facility and features student-athletes from football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball.

▪ The Gamecocks’ first preseason scrimmage is Monday afternoon. It is closed to the public.

This story was originally published August 9, 2019 at 9:48 AM.