South Carolina’s summer newcomers could shape offense. What Mike Bobo expects
Facing a question about the identity of his offense, new South Carolina coordinator Mike Bobo pointed to a roadblock in figuring that out.
Not everyone is in the mix yet.
The Gamecocks are going through spring practice without two freshman tight ends, two freshman wide receivers and a pair of running backs who’ve all yet to enroll. To hear Bobo’s tone, it sounded as if he expects those players to have impacts on their respective rotations.
He flat out said he expects those newcomers to “shape” the identity at the skill positions. They’ll all be on campus this summer.
He didn’t speak directly to the pair of running backs — JUCO transfer ZaQuandre White and incoming freshman Rashad Amos — but did say he’d like to see a fully stocked backfield. USC as of last week had only two of three scholarship runners available.
Here is the breakdown he gave for the other four incoming skill players:
Wide receiver Rico Powers
“A guy that I watched on tape here when I got here, and then I watched his tape from when he was down in the Savannah area. And I see a guy that can run and is big that hopefully will be a guy that can hopefully take the top off a defense for us.”
HS stats: 28 catches for 596 yards and six touchdowns
Wide receiver Ger-Cari Caldwell
“I knew about him at Colorado State. He kind of burst on the scene his senior year and we thought we’d have a shot at it because really nobody was on him at the time, and then he kind of blew up late in recruiting. But he’s a 6-4 kid that can jump and can run. I think he’s another long kid that’ll give us give us an opportunity to bring depth to that room because we need some depth at receiver.”
HS stats: 51 receptions for 744 yards and seven touchdowns
Tight end Jaheim Bell
“Obviously played out wide and played some receiver. He’s just naturally going to probably grow himself into a big wideout or a guy that we’ll be able to move around at the tight end position. He’s 220 pounds right now. He sent me a picture the other day of (him) working out. He was coming off a knee injury and he’s back, working out and I’m excited to get him in here. A guy that will be able to move around and hopefully create some mismatches.”
HS stats: 210 receiving yards in an injury-shortened junior season, 770 yards as a junior
Tight end Eric Shaw
“I think he’s probably a little bit farther behind, as far as learning how to play the position and run routes because he had been at the receiver position. But he has a huge, huge upside. I just hope coach Muschamp doesn’t try to steal him and put him on defense.”
HS stats: 26 receptions for 445 yards and four touchdowns, 128 and has four sacks, three interceptions on defense
