Kai Kroeger & Mitch Jeter Make Special Team Preseason Watchlists

Preseason watchlists for different awards continue to roll out, and on Wednesday, two more specialists from South Carolina's Football team were listed.

After exceeding expectations in Shane Beamer's first two years in Columbia, the South Carolina Gamecocks have continued to garner more national attention in the 2022 offseason because of some of the players they have returning on their 2023 squad. The headliners are obvious, with Spencer Rattler and Antwane Juice Wells back in the fold, and their inclusion on The Maxwell Award's Preseason Watchlist indicates their importance on this team.

Other players like Tonka Hemingway, Nick Emmanwori, and Hunter Rogers also return after helping the Gamecocks win multiple close games in 2023, and all made their position group's respective award watchlists: The Outland Trophy for Tonka, The Bronco Nagurski Award For Emmanwori, and The Patrick Mannelly Award for Rogers. Gamecock Nation can now add two more players to what's become an expansive list, as Kai Kroeger and Mitch Jeter have both been named to the watchlist for their position's respective awards.

For Kroeger, he's on the watchlist for the Ray Guy Award, given annually to the best punter in college football. Kai's 2022 performance led to multiple All-SEC and All-American nods, which led to him being only a semifinalist for the award. Hence, seeing the rising senior on this list is no surprise. His counterpart, Mitch Jeter, is on the watchlist for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the best kicker in college football. Jeter was the starting kickoff man and placekicker for the Gamecocks for the first time in 2022 and made all eleven field goal attempts and 95 percent of his PATs. If Jeter can put similar numbers to an even greater extent this Fall, he'll have a great chance to be a finalist for the Lou Groza Award.

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