Josiah Thompson Is SEC Made

South Carolina football target Josiah Thompson brings both plus athleticism and an advanced understanding of his position to the field.

When looking at the crop of football players from the state of South Carolina in the 2024 recruiting class, while it's top-heavy, the class offers up one of the best offensive tackle classes the state has seen in a long time, maybe ever.

In this group, you have prospects like Kam Pringle, Josiah Thompson, and Blake Franks, all of which are being heavily pursued by South Carolina and Clemson. Thompson, in particular, is a heavy Gamecock lean at this current moment.

When looking back at Josiah Thompson's film from his junior season at Dillon High School, it's easy to see why evaluators are so high on the physically imposing offensive tackle.

The first thing that jumps out is Thompson's explosive quick twitch off the line as a play starts, a trait reminiscent of recent Gamecock signee Xzavier McLeod. What makes Thompson even more dangerous as a lineman is his understanding of the importance of leverage, something rarely seen with prospects who carry a 6'6 frame and are still playing high school football.

These aforementioned traits, combined with his high motor and fluid lateral movement, could make him a road grader at the next level in the run game. His skill set fits exactly what South Carolina is looking for in their zone blocking run scheme, linemen who can cover ground quickly vertically and horizontally. 

Thompson will be able to perform a variety of blocks in the run game, including seal blocks to open gaps, down blocks to reach second-level defenders, and pull blocks to kick out vacated defenders.

While Thompson will need to add some weight in the next couple of years, as he's currently around 280 lbs, Thompson is the quintessential modern-day run-blocking lineman that any football team would love to have. For this reason, South Carolina is still battling teams like Miami, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, and others for Josiah's pledge. 

If they can thwart off their archrivals and historic out-of-state programs, at minimum, Thompson will be a high-level multiyear starter in Columbia.

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