There is no question that the Gamecock defense left a lot to be desired last season. It seemed that for most of the year nothing seemed to click until late in the season, but by then, the damage of a porous defense had already been done. Beamer and his staff have worked tirelessly to overhaul that side of the ball this offseason, and, on paper at least, this looks to be a source of strength instead of weakness for South Carolina in 2024.

With many incoming freshmen likely to play some sort of role for the defensive unit this coming season, which one will have the biggest impact on this side of the ball?

Similar to the offense, I think there is an obvious answer. Dylan Stewart is a freak of nature and will undoubtedly have a significant role on this defense. That said, the defensive line is actually fairly deep for once under Shane Beamer, and while the “cream always rises to the top”, I expect the d-line to emerge as the strength of defense mostly by committee vs individual efforts. 

Also, I don’t think “biggest impact” is synonymous with having the most robust stats at the end of the season. In this case, I think about which unit of the defense needs to step up for the team to reach its goals. More specifically, which player within that unit must fill a weak spot on the roster for the team as a whole to succeed?

I think that position group for South Carolina is the secondary, and the specific freshman who will surprise a lot of folks as he helps anchor that defensive unit is redshirt freshman, Vicari Swain.

The safeties in Nick Emmanwori and Jalon Kilgore are more than proven and veteran DQ Smith is a huge playmaker for the secondary. That said, I believe that CB could potentially be a vulnerable position due to inexperience and depth concerns.

O’Donnell Fortune looks to be CB1 for this team while Judge Collier is currently believed to be the other starter opposite Fortune. 

Fortune has logged significant playing time as he appeared in eleven games with ten starts a season ago. He also logged thirty nine tackles, six pass breakups, and two interceptions. I think Fortune is a solid CB who will hold his own.

Judge Collier has played much more sparingly during his time at USC and is less proven than Fortune. This is not necessarily a negative, but it makes him an enigma defensively. He may play remarkably well, but there is no way to know. If he were to struggle, Vicari Swain could see more playing time.

Swain is a redshirt freshman for the Gamecocks after appearing in just three games a season ago. He was a two-way player in high school as a defensive back and wide receiver which demonstrates the caliber of athlete he is. 

A season ago, it was freshman Jalon Kilgore exploding onto the scene one interception, one forced fumble, six pass breakups, and seventy six tackles. The season before that, it was Nick Emmanwori.

A freshman emerging in the secondary seems to be a trend for South Carolina, and if one were to break out next year, Vicari Swain is a top candidate. An athletic CB with a season of growth and experience under his belt could very well play his way into a starting CB role if one of the starters were to underperform or miss time due to an injury. At the end of the day, I think it’s going to be difficult to keep this caliber of athlete off the field.