South Carolina depth chart: Making sense of Gamecocks’ defense entering the summer

South Carolina’s defense is taking shape.

With the true offseason now here, the Gamecocks’ defense in its third year under defensive coordinator Clayton White will have to replace six starters from last season.

How will they do it? Here’s a look a the projected USC defensive depth chart heading into the summer:

Defensive line

▪ Starters: Jordan Strachan, Tonka Hemingway, Alex “Boogie” Huntley, T.J. Sanders

▪ Backups: Terrell Dawkins, Tyreek Johnson, Nick Barrett, Elijah Davis, Bryan Thomas Jr., Desmond Umeozulu, Jatius Geer

South Carolina’s defensive end spot is in need of depth.

USC saw starters Jordan Burch (Oregon) and Gilber Edmond (Florida State) depart this offseason. Four-star mid-year enrollee Monteque Rhames was also suspended indefinitely following his arrest on weapons charges in February.

That leaves seventh-year senior Jordan Strachan, coming off a torn ACL that ended his 2022 campaign, and likely some combination of one-time N.C. State transfer Terrell Dawkins and Tonka Hemingway to hold down the fort.

Hemingway has played both inside and out during his time in Columbia. Given the depth issues, it’s a pretty decent bet he sees more than his fair share of snaps at defensive end. Dawkins, too, was supposed to be a big piece last year, but injury issues lingered and limited him to just three games.

Inside, Alex “Boogie” Huntley is back as an anchor at defensive tackle. Talented up-and-comers T.J. Sanders and Nick Barrett should be heavily involved in the rotation, along with Hemingway.

One name worth circling here is junior college transfer Elijah Davis. The former East Mississippi Community College standout was a force in the spring game, including a strip-sack of quarterback Tanner Bailey. He was slotted to play defensive tackle, but worked mostly as an edge rusher in the Garnet & Black game. Don’t be surprised if he takes on a role similar to Hemingway.

Jatius Geer, a newly added edge rusher via the transfer portal, should also have a chance to break into the rotation.

Linebackers

▪ Starters: Mo Kaba, Debo Williams

▪ Backups: Stone Blanton, Bam Martin-Scott, Grayson “Pup” Howard, Jaron Willis

South Carolina loses 12 years of college football experience in Sherrod Greene and Brad Johnson. That’s no easy task to replace, but there are ample options.

Mo Kaba should be back after an ACL tear ended his 2022 season in Week 2 at Arkansas. He’d shown promise as a legitimate NFL-caliber linebacker in his two years before the injury. Now he should be the most vocal and crucial piece to the middle of the Gamecocks’ defense.

The other slot could go a couple different ways. Debo Williams is the most likely candidate to become a starter this season. Williams has developed a reputation as one of the hardest hitters and best trash-talkers on the team since he transferred in from Delaware ahead of the 2021 season. He should take another step forward in a bigger role.

Other names to know here include Stone Blanton, Bam Martin-Scott and Grayson “Pup” Howard. Blanton played a big role on special teams a year ago and South Carolina is high on his upside, while Martin-Scott flashed in the Gator Bowl loss to Notre Dame.

Howard, just a freshman, figures to be the future of the position sooner than later. He made it to Columbia in time to go through bowl practices and certainly doesn’t look like a first-year player at 6-foot-4, 242 pounds. Howard could conceivably crack the lineup by season’s end.

Secondary

▪ Starters: Marcellas Dial (CB), O’Donnell Fortune (CB), DQ Smith (S), Nick Emmanwori (S), David Spaulding (nickel)

▪ Backups: Keenan Nelson, Emory Floyd, Peyton Williams, Kajuan Banks

South Carolina’s secondary is going to look a bit different this fall.

Cornerbacks Cam Smith and Darius Rush are off to the NFL. That leaves Marcellas Dial and O’Donnell Fortune to fill their roles. Dial has been a stalwart since he arrived from Georgia Military College, but has never been the featured guy. Fortune, too, has been around plenty and his pick-six in the bowl game was a nice moment. He’ll be counted on plenty.

Outside of Dial and Fortune, though, this should be an inexperienced bunch.

DQ Smith and Nick Emmanwori starred in their first years in the program, earning freshman All-American honors for their efforts. Now a year older, they’ll have to hold down things at safety again as sophomores given the lack of reps behind them.

David Spaulding should be the go-to guy at nickel whenever he can get healthy. He missed most of the spring and was banged up in 2022. If he can stay on the field, he’s got NFL potential.

Behind that nucleus, it’ll be a young group serving as backups. Emory Floyd, Peyton Williams, Keenan Nelson and Kajuan Banks all saw varying time a year ago, particularly on special teams. They’ll need to be ready to go this fall, despite their limited exposure to regular playing time at this level.