What is South Carolina adding with new running back recruit? ‘Elite’ speed
The first thing that Dean Fabrizio mentioned wasn’t just the straight-line speed.
He was speaking about his star tailback and safety Caleb McDowell less than 24 hours after the rising Lee County (Georgia) senior made a verbal commitment June 9 to the South Carolina football team as an offensive player. McDowell does possess the speed one would expect from a smaller back, but it’s not just in a track context.
“He’s got the elite, top-end speed that few guys have,” Fabrizio said. “He can take it the distance. But he’s also got short-range quickness to make people miss in space. And it’s rare for guys to have that combination. A lot of times the top-end speed guys are straight-line guys. They don’t necessarily have the short-distance quickness to make people miss.”
It translates to a style that’s both elusive and explosive. On film, McDowell makes cuts and just bursts through the hole. And he shakes players with regularity.
But at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, he’s also got some strength as a 600-pound squatter.
He found himself putting that strength to use last season in a different way. For a future college running back, his coach said he got all of 42 carries in 13 games last season.
“He played primarily defense for us last year,” Fabrizio said. “He’s a very unselfish player. That’s what we needed him to do and that’s what he did. This year he’ll play exclusively offense, return kicks and punts. We expect a big year out of him. He’s definitely an impact guy.”
McDowell had transferred in when his family moved to the area. The Trojans had senior running backs in Charles Carr and Christian Frazier. So McDowell mostly played safety, a position that opened when current Gamecock Jammie Robinson graduated after the 2018 season. (Fabrizio called McDowell elite in coverage and praised his physicality.)
He did make the most of his chances with the ball. He put up 497 yards at a sterling 11.8 yards per carry, plus eight touchdowns. He got 123 yards on his six catches, scored twice on returns, getting more than 32 yards per kick return and more than 17 yards per punt return.
His coach also described him as a positive presence and a good kid in the locker room.
Coming through a program that has put more than a few players into the college ranks, McDowell catching attention from college coaches isn’t too much of a surprise. Fabrizio said McDowell’s size was part of the discussion, but the skill set overcame that. And a combination of factors helped pull him to Columbia.
“They do a good job recruiting,” Fabrizio said. “Of course, it always helps when you’ve got a kid that’s really happy there and doing so well like Jammie. I’ve known coach [Will] Muschamp for many years at several different places, recruiting players not only here but at several places I’ve been ... coach [Mike] Bobo as well.
“They just were very impressed with him as a player.”
It helped that McDowell had been on campus a few times and had some background with the program before the coronavirus shelved most of the spring recruiting process.
With the composition of the Gamecocks backfield, it’s seems less likely the staff would go for another tailback in this class. The team carried six last year, but one was mostly moved to defense, and the team projects to have six in McDowell’s first year, unless someone transfers.
For now, he’ll be stepping into that feature tailback role as a high school senior. He started his career behind a four-star back who went to Florida. He showed off his physicality because his team needed it, and now, as he looks toward a college future, that feature role will be all his.
“He did whatever it takes to help the team,” Fabrizio said. “This year he’ll play exclusively offense. We expect him to be a state player of the year-type guy.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 3:08 PM.
