Why veteran pass-catchers have Spencer Rattler excited about Gamecocks offense in 2023

Spencer Rattler is the old guy in the room — even if he doesn’t feel like it.

“I’m 22. I’m not that old,” he quipped after throwing out the first pitch at a Columbia Fireflies baseball game last month.

Whether Rattler feels old is a different conversation. In reality, he’s been around. Two schools. Three offensive coordinators. Roughly 10 million headlines in between. (OK, the last part is slight exaggeration, but you get the point).

This fall, though, Rattler will trot out under the lights at Williams-Brice Stadium with a cohort of elderly — at least by college football standards — skill-position talent that has him excited for what the Gamecocks offense can show.

“All these guys are looking good right now,” he told The State.

Rattler will be the hook to most any story about South Carolina in the lead-up to the season opener against Drake Maye and North Carolina in Charlotte on Sept. 2. That checks out. He’s the biggest name on the roster. Frankly, he’s one of the biggest names in college football.

But don’t let that distract from what the Gamecocks have in their arsenal around him.

Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. was lauded throughout spring 2022 for what he might bring to the South Carolina offense. Those in and around the building suggested he had All-SEC potential after transferring from James Madison, where he rewrote the record books in two seasons.

Wells backed that up and then some.

He finished the year second in the SEC in yards receiving, behind only Biletnikoff Award winner Jalin Hyatt. He notched four games with over 100 yards receiving, including three that were over 130 yards. Numbers like those bring expectations into 2023.

“This year, it’s like, ‘All right, the (NFL) is the next step,’ ” Wells said in March. “I’m just trying to make sure I stay healthy throughout the season, making sure I’ve got that little voice in the back of my head like, ‘Keep going,’ because this is my last year.”

Beyond the Gamecocks’ first-team receiver seniors Xavier Legette and Ahmarean Brown and transfers Eddie Lewis, Trey Knox and Joshua Simon figure to be focal points for a South Carolina passing offense that finished sixth in SEC last fall but was bolstered by prolific outputs over its final three games.

Legette is perhaps the most intriguing of the pass-catching options in 2023. The big-bodied receiver has long oozed talent. He’s the kind of name that pops up seemingly every offseason as a “guy to watch,” or one who will “take a step forward this year.” So far, he’s been more potential than production.

Still, the flashes are there.

Legette’s circus-catch touchdown in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame was eye-opening. His touchdown return on the opening kickoff against Texas A&M showed how electric he can be in the open field. South Carolina, if it gets its way, will get those moments in droves in 2023.

“Xavier is a bigger guy,” Rattler explained in the spring. “He’ll go up and get it, for sure. Real strong hand. Tall, vertical guy who can get up there.”

Lewis, Knox and Simon, too, will have their chances. Lewis projects to have an impact in the way Josh Vann could at times over the last two years. He’ll play above his size, stretch the field and provide largely reliable hands for Rattler. Knox and Simon, meanwhile, have the unenviable task of filling out the Jaheim Bell-sized hole at tight end.

Knox has been lauded this year in his first months on campus. His size at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds makes him a matchup nightmare and, as a converted receiver, he’s a more natural pass-catcher than most men with his frame. Simon also has NFL scouts curious how he can develop at the SEC level after catching 86 passes for 1,146 yards with 16 touchdowns during his time at Western Kentucky.

“Trey is a vet. Josh, too,” Rattler said. “Trey is one of the highest IQ players I’ve been around. (He) helps me a lot when I’m on the field because he knows a lot about the offense. These guys just add (complements) to everything we need.”

South Carolina’s starting receiving corps and tight end group should be on the older side of college football. Led by a quarterback who admittedly feels like he’s been around forever, that bodes well for a Gamecocks squad that will be youthful on defense.

What’ll it look like when USC takes the field Week 1 under new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains?

Said Rattler, “I guess you’ll have to wait till Game 1.”