These three South Carolina football returners primed for a breakout 2026 season
.JPG "South Carolina's Matt Fuller during a 2026 spring football practice.")
When looking for reasons to be hopeful about South Carolina football in 2026, it’s real easy to focus on the Gamecocks’ incoming transfers and freshmen — the shiny new toys on Shane Beamer’s roster.
But there are plenty of talented pieces from last year’s Gamecocks squad who are now a year older and in a prime position to have the best season of their career — similarly to how WR Nyck Harbor and edge Bryan Thomas Jr. broke out last season.
So who are the South Carolina returners to keep an eye out for? Of the 32 Gamecocks who were on the team last year, here’s three poised to have a big season in 2026.
1. RB Matthew Fuller
The favorite to be South Carolina’s starting running back next season, Matthew Fuller will be expected to be an integral part of the Gamecocks’ offense just a year after struggling to find a role.
He came into the 2025 season as South Carolina’s No. 3 running back behind Oscar Adaway and Rahsul Faison, only twice getting double-digit carries in a game. Heck, the most-memorable part of Fuller’s 2025 season was OC Mike Shula and RBs coach Marquel Blackwell — both of whom are no longer with the program — throwing him on the bench after he ran for a 72-yard touchdown against LSU.
Fuller finished his redshirt freshman season running the ball 72 times for 260 yards (3.6 ypc) and a pair of touchdowns.
Though the Gamecocks brought in three transfer running backs to compete for the starting job, Fuller’s status as RB1 was all but solidified after the USC coaches named Fuller the Offensive Player of the Spring. It was also a further sign that the 5-foot-11, 221-pound Georgia native is fitting in nicely to offensive coordinator Kendal Briles’ scheme.
If Fuller is able to live up to expectations and flirt with 80-plus rushing yards a game, that will also take quite a load off QB LaNorris Sellers and possibly allow him to be more effective when he wants to pull the ball and run himself. Think about it: Sellers was a much more productive rusher in 2024, when Rocket Sanders was in the backfield with him.
2. DB Peyton Williams
If you want to read between the lines of semi-inconsequential offseason decisions, look no further than South Carolina choosing to bring Williams to SEC Media Days as one of its three representatives — an honor often voted on by the team. It gives the impression that Williams isn’t just a leader for the Gamecocks, but expected to be one of the stars of the defense.
And before the nitpicking comes — yes, Williams started every game at safety for South Carolina last season. But he was the forgotten defensive back, overshadowed by DQ Smith, Jalon Kilgore and Vicari Swain.
Last year, Williams finished with 50 tackles (fifth on the team), one sack and a pair of interceptions. It was a solid redshirt junior year but leaves plenty of room for a season far more special.
Williams’ career, too, has been all about improvement. He didn’t play much in 2022 or 2023, became a rotational piece in the secondary as a redshirt sophomore and then elevated to a starting role last season. And if we continue reading into the spring awards, Williams’ was named South Carolina’s Defensive Player of the Spring — another sign the coaching staff thinks he’s playing at a higher level.
Now, what exactly what a breakout season look like? It’s probably one of those you-know-it-when-you-see-it type of situations, but one would hope for Williams’ stats to be in the neighborhood of what Nick Emmanwori did in 2024 (88 tackles, 3 TFLs, 4 INTs, etc).
3. WR Jayden Sellers
Some might argue that Jayden Sellers — the younger brother of LaNorris — broke out as a true freshman last year, but the sample size was too small — and, well, Sellers’ performance last year was likely propped up because South Carolina’s receivers had an atrocious season.
Think about it: Jayden only caught passes in five games last season, finishing the year with 22 catches for 337 yards (third on the team) and one touchdown.
It was an unexpected output for Jayden in year one, notable considering that he arrived on campus as the lowest-ranked wide receiver of the six South Carolina signed in its 2025 recruiting class. But there’s still another level he has to reach before he achieves breakout status.
A solid path to follow is that of Harbor, who had a decent 2024 season — which included a stat line very similar to Jayden’s last year) — and then turned into the Gamecocks’ No. 1 receiver last season, racking up over 600 receiving yards and six scores.
Jayden won’t be asked to become the Gamecocks’ top receiver next season, especially with guys like Harbor, Purdue transfer Nitro Tuggle and UCF transfer DJ Black competing for catches. But if he can become consistently productive next season — which would likely turn into 750-plus yards — Jayden would be talked about as one of the top SEC receivers heading into 2027.
