4 questions about South Carolina’s defense heading into the offseason
It was so fun to watch South Carolina’s defense this season.
Just think back to that Kentucky game in week two, when you truly felt bad for Wildcats’ QB Brock Vandagriff. He looked helpless all day, throwing for just 30 yards and getting sacked five times in a rout. Vandagriff has since retired from football, though it’s unclear how much of a factor Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart were in that decision.
Then do you remember the Oklahoma blowout? That was one of the most impressive displays of team defense you’ll ever see — I mean, the Gamecocks had nine sacks … by nine-different players.
What made the Gamecocks’ defense so good, though, is it had veterans all over the place. Just about every starter — aside from Stewart — had extensive starting experience in college, which is great until you start thinking about 2025.
Next season, the Gamecocks will be without seven starters: Kennard, DT Tonka Hemingway, DT TJ Sanders, LB Demetrius Knight, LB Debo Williams, DB O’Donnell Fortune and DB Nick Emmanwori.
Here are four questions we have about USC’s defense heading into next season?
Who can step up opposite Dylan Stewart?
This question could also be worded: Who replaces Kennard? But that’s an unfair proposition — it;s unlikely someone other than Stewart records 11.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. That’s too high of a bar.
But don’t forget, Kennard did not face a crazy amount of double teams because offenses had to also worry about Stewart. So it’s reasonable to think whoever plays opposite from Stewart could have major production.
The question is who?
Senior Bryan Thomas Jr. seems like a good bet — he got the start in the Citrus Bowl and recorded six tackles and a sack, finishing with 4.5 sacks on the season. Perhaps it’s junior Desmond Umeozulu, who has great length but has played sparingly in two years.
Or maybe it’s a transfer — like Kennard — which brings us to Missouri transfer Jaylen Brown. The 6-foot-6, 265-pound soon-to-be sophomore might be too young and raw to immediately step into a starting role, but could be a wild card. As could any other portal add.
What happens with the linebacker room?
The answer will become much more clear once we learn the ruling of linebacker Bam Martin-Scott’s appeal. The sixth-year senior is trying to gain an extra year of eligibility following the NCAA waiver for junior college players, which didn’t apply to Martin-Scott because he started college in 2019.
If Martin-Scott is able to return, he would likely start along with sophomore Fred Johnson — who mostly played on special teams as a true freshman but drew much praise from coaches and teammates.
Just by their quotes, it seems like a lock that Johnson would garner a starting spot. If he’s alongside Martin-Scott, the linebacker room would be pretty darn secure. If Martin-Scott isn’t allowed another season, things are a little more up in the air.
Perhaps redshirt junior Jaron Willis could garner a bigger role, though he played in four games without recording a tackle in 2024. More likely: Redshirt junior Shawn Murphy, who transferred from Florida State a few weeks ago, or another portal acquisition with experience will step in in alongside Johnson.
Can anyone be even be a little like Nick Emmanwori?
The star South Carolina safety has talked a lot in the past about the freedom defensive coordinator Clayton White gives his veterans in the secondary, letting them react if they see something with checks and a bit of ad-libbing.
No one did more with that freedom than Emmanwori, who snagged four interceptions this season.
Because Emmanwori played so much over the past three seasons, there’s not a clear replacement for him. Maybe it’s Peyton Williams, who filled in for Emmanwori after he opted out halfway through the Citrus Bowl. Maybe it’s a transfer who has yet to sign.
Or maybe the Gamecocks move nickel corner Jalon Kilgore to free safety — which would alleviate some of those freedom problems.
But, if they don’t we’ll have to wait and see how different White’s defense looks without an insanely-athletic safety who can make checks and adjustments as he sees fit.
Does Monkell Goodwine become the Gamecocks’ top D-tackle?
With the departures of Sanders, Hemingway, Alex Huntley and Deandre Jules, South Carolina is losing arguably its top four defensive tackles, who accounted for 79% of all tackles by Gamecock DTs this season.
That’s remarkable.
So who replaces all of that production?
Texas A&M transfer DT Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy is probably a good answer. The former former five-star prospect has all the mesurables and ability but wasn’t able to make an impact at the SEC level with the Aggies.
South Carolina redshirt senior DT Monkell Goodwine, on the other hand, was really solid for the Gamecocks in 2024. The former Alabama transfer racked up 15 tackles and took the fourth-most snaps of any defensive tackle.
It seems the coaches trust him and with his experience, there’s no reason to think that Goodwine won’t start and be a major contributor in the trenches.
