Trio of Gamecock defenders earn second-team All-SEC honors
A trio of South Carolina football players earned All-SEC honors from the Associated Press on Monday, with senior defensive linemen Javon Kinlaw and D.J. Wonnum and sophomore cornerback Israel Mukuamu all landing on the second team for the conference awards.
Kinlaw, a defensive tackle out of Charleston, exploded up NFL draft boards with a standout senior year. A midseason AP All-American, he recorded 35 tackles with six sacks, a top-10 mark in the SEC, and two fumble recoveries, a team best, while generating consistent pressure in the middle of the line.
Wonnum, who played the BUCK position, posted 37 tackles and 4.5 sacks, along with an interception and a forced fumble. The Stone Mountain, Georgia, native has been nominated for the national comeback player of the year award after a junior year derailed by injuries.
Both Kinlaw and Wonnum have accepted invitations to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl on Jan. 25. If they are both taken in April’s NFL draft, it would be the first time since 2013 that the Gamecocks have had two defensive players taken in the same year.
Mukuamu had 59 stops on the year, fifth most on the team, as well as four interceptions and nine pass break-ups, both team-highs. Three of those picks came against then-No. 3 Georgia in a 20-17 upset, one of which he returned for his first career touchdown. Along with classmate and fellow defensive back Jaycee Horn, he helped anchor USC’s secondary.
South Carolina finished off 2019 with a 4-8 record, fourth in the SEC East, and missed a bowl for only the second time since 2005. However, advanced analytics had the Gamecocks’ defensive unit ranked as one of the better groups in the nation, finishing 16th in ESPN’s Football Power Index efficiency rankings and 29th in the SP+ ratings.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 12:15 PM.
