USC Gamecocks Football

South Carolina makes strong case as ‘the real DBU’

The Buffalo Bills selected South Carolina’s Stephon Gilmore with the 10th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
The Buffalo Bills selected South Carolina’s Stephon Gilmore with the 10th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. File photo

Johnathan Joseph, Dunta Robinson, D.J. Swearinger, Stephon Gilmore, Chris Culliver, Captain Munnerlyn, Fred Bennett, Ko Simpson, Sheldon Brown and Andre Goodman.

They’re the reason South Carolina makes a strong case to be known as the real Defensive Back University, or DBU, according to a series by CBS national college football writer Jon Solomon.

The Gamecocks actually finished No. 2 for the “real DBU” distinction in the report behind Texas but ahead of such national powerhouses as Ohio State and LSU in producing quality NFL talent at the defensive back position.

“When the numbers got crunched, this became the most surprising selection in the entire Position U series,” Solomon wrote of USC. “The depth is remarkable for a program not often associated with DBU.”

CBS released the report as part of its “Position U series, where CBS Sports examines where NFL talent has come from over the last decade (2006-15).”

South Carolina’s group of DBs considered in CBS’s breakdown includes 9 NFL draft picks with 668 career starts and two Pro Bowls among them.

“Now can Will Muschamp, a defensive-minded head coach, tap into this history with the Gamecocks?” Solomon said in the report.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 2:39 PM with the headline "South Carolina makes strong case as ‘the real DBU’."

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