Nate Adkins' Rare Opportunity

Tight end Nate Adkins gets a unique opportunity in South Carolina's bowl game.

Transfer-portal mania has been in full swing over the past week, and South Carolina has finally felt the effects. 

As expected, a few Gamecocks announced they would be transferring once the season is over. What was not expected was that the tight-end position would be left desolate in all of the madness. 

With Austin Stogner and Jaheim Bell announcing they are transferring, as well as Traevon Kenion announcing he is stepping away from football, there is a gap as big as the ocean on the depth chart for the TE position, meaning someone is going to have to step up. That leaves Nate Adkins to uphold the tight end position for the Gamecocks.

Adkins, the senior transfer from East Tennessee State, has always been a minor factor in the passing game for ETSU and South Carolina. 

His 2021 season with ETSU was the most productive receiving season of his collegiate career, in which he hauled in 33 catches for 357 yards and a score. His receiving production has waned significantly since transferring to South Carolina. T

his season, Adkins only has eight catches for 90 yards. The excellent news for Gamecocks fans is that six of those catches and 82 of those yards came in the Gamecocks' past two games, meaning he has been game-planned in the passing game on some level.

Regardless of past production or the lack thereof, Adkins will have to step up and pick up the lost production. Though the usage of the tight ends has been less than many expected coming into the year, Adkins is the only TE under scholarship left on the roster, a testament to how lonely it is in the TE room right now.

Having zero production at the TE position against Wake Forest leaves South Carolina's offense in a hole and limits the offense's capabilities. Though Adkins' usage has been soareheely, he is more than capable of performing. 

Despite entering the Clemson game with less than ten catches, Adkins had 62 yards against a fantastic defense and might have made the catch of the year. It's not going to be easy but Adkins will have to step up and continue his stretch of good and productive games.

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