Potential Position Battles To Watch: Defense

South Carolina's Football team is around two weeks away from starting Fall camp, and still have multiple positions to solve on the defensive side of the ball.

The sense of football being upon us has begun to swarm the most rapid fans in college football. Although it sounds like a broken record for South Carolina, this'll be another pivotal season for Shane Beamer and his team, who are looking to maintain momentum as the SEC inches closer to a new-look conference alignment that'll take effect in 2024.

The offense lost the most firepower from the 2022 season, but that doesn't mean the Gamecocks' defense is without some intriguing situations at certain spots in their lineup. What are those positions?

Edge Rusher

This position is the most obvious question mark for Clayton White and this defensive staff heading into the Fall. No one knows how veteran pass rusher Jordan Strachan will respond to the ACL injury he suffered last year. Former ACC transfers Jatius Geer and Terrell Dawkins showed flashes at their previous stop but haven't seen significant playing time against SEC competition.

Desmond Umeozulu and Bryan Thomas Jr. are both young players who could heavily factor into the rotation in 2023, but can they be every-down type players? You can make a case for almost anyone in this position group, which can be good or bad, depending on how you view it.

Linebacker

In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated position units for South Carolina regarding overall depth. Debo Williams and Stone Blanton garnered most of the first-team reps in the Spring and look ready to play more prominent roles no matter what.

Like the aforementioned Strachan, Mohamed Kaba has spent the past ten months or so recovering from a torn ACL and was one of the team's best defenders before the injury. Another player to look out for here is true freshman Grayson "Pup" Howard, who's already been named by multiple people as someone to watch in 2023.

Nickel Corner

This situation at this spot is similar to the linebacker position group; there are multiple players who are capable of being starters. Most assume that David Spaulding, who missed most of the 2022 season due to injuries, is the likely starter.

However, other underclassmen like Kajuan Banks and Keenan Nelson Jr. have proved capable of playing the position over the past ten months and could push Spaulding significantly in August.

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